IMPACT OF A BLACKBERRY EXTRACT AND SINGLE ANTHOCYANINS ON THE INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE OF HUMAN MACROPHAGE THP-1 CELLS

A diet rich in anthocyanins is considered to be beneficial for health. Thus, investigations on anthocyanin-rich extracts and single constituents are of great interest. We investigated a blackberry extract, containing a spectrum of anthocyanins, in comparison to two sub-fractions comprising cyanidin-3-(6''-dioxalylglucoside and cyanidin-3-(malonylglucoside), respectively, regarding their impact on inflammation-related cytokine expression and secretion in human macrophages. Relative gene transcription and secretion of IL-6 and TNF-alpha were measured using quantitative real time PCR and human cytokine bead-based multiplex immunoassay, respectively. Human THP-1 monocytes were differentiated with phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate into macrophages which were pre-incubated with physiologically relevant concentrations of blackberry extract or single compounds. Subsequent stimulation with lipopolysaccharides from E.coli induced gene transcription and cytokine release mimicking the inflammatory response. Cyanidin-3-(malonylglucoside) had no impact on LPS-induced IL6 and TNF-alpha expression. In contrast, the blackberry extract and cyanidin-3-(6''-dioxalylglucoside) caused further stimulatory effects for the transcription and secretion of IL-6 at higher concentrations ≥0.05 µg/ml. The secretion of TNF-alpha was increased as well by both, yet with no impact on the transcript level after 3 h of incubation. The results clearly show that single as well as combinatory effects might be of relevance for the immune-stimulatory impact of the blackberry extract.