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M. M. RAFI and L. Rakhlin. Dept. of Food Science, Rutgers, The State Univ. of New Jersey, Cook College, 65 Dudley Rd., New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8520 Inflammation is part of the body's natural defense system against infectious injury and disease. When this defense system malfunctions, it may lead to chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation, if not treated, was found to be the cause of major diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, obesity, allergy, asthma, diabetes, and various autoimmune disorders. During inflammation cells release inflammatory mediators that lead to vascular changes, leukocyte activation, and tissue remodeling. Cytokines, particularly interleukin-1 (IL-1â), appear to be key orchestrators of these events. They induce the expression of pro-inflammatory proteins, including inducible cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), inducible nitric-oxide synthase (iNOS), adhesion molecules, chemokines, tissue-degrading enzymes, and acute-phase proteins. Specific dietary components have a significant impact on inflammation and prevent/delay chronic inflammation. Our objective was to study the specific dietary components that have promising anti-inflammatory properties. We focused our research on the extracts of Zingiber officinale(ginger), Vaccinium macrocarpon (cranberry), Camellia sinensis (black tea), and Citrus sinensis (orange peel). Mouse macrophage cell line RAW 264.7. was induced with 1 ug/ml LPS to produce nitric oxide (NO), a pro-inflammatory mediator of inflammation. The cells were simultaneously treated with different concentrations of the above mentioned dietary extracts. RNA was isolated from the treated cells and amplified to study pro-inflammatory gene regulators iNOS and COX-2. MTT assay was done to identify the non-toxic doses of the mentioned dietary extracts. Our results showed that concentrations of 2.5 ug/ml, 5 ug/ml, and 10 ug/ml ginger and orange peel extracts were non-toxic, inhibited production of NO, and decreased the expression of iNOS and COX-2 genes. On the other hand, the same concentrations of cranberry and black tea extracts did not inhibit production of NO and decrease expression of iNOS and COX-2 genes. These results suggest that ginger and orange peel extracts have promising anti-inflammatory properties. Further studies would be done to understand the mechanism of action of these extracts.
Session 35, Nutraceutical & Functional Foods: General I
2005 IFT Annual Meeting, July 15-20 - New Orleans, Louisiana |