Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Rubus Fruit Anthocyanins in Inflamed Human Intestinal Epithelial Cells

The purpose of this study was to investigate anti-inflammatory activities of anthocyanin fractions (AF) from blackberries (BB), Korean raspberries (KR) and black raspberries (BR) and their major anthocyanins (cyanidin-3-glucoside [C3G] and cyanidin-3-rutinoside [C3R]) in inflamed intestinal epithelial Caco-2 cells. Nitrite scavenging activity of C3G was significantly higher than that of C3R and the AF measured by a chemical method. All the AF and individual anthocyanins significantly inhibit nitric oxide (NO) secretion, inducible NO synthase expression and nuclear factor-B activation in the Caco-2 cells exposed to conditioned medium (CM) from lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. In the CM-stimulated Caco-2 cells, C3G, BBAF and KRAF inhibited NO production significantly more than C3R and BRAF, and C3G and BBAF expressed nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 significantly more than the control. The individual anthocyanins also significantly downregulated intercellular adhesion molecule 1 in Caco-2 cell lines. The results suggest that anthocyanins in Rubus fruits, particularly C3G, may promote anti-inflammation in intestinal epithelial cells. Practical ApplicationsRubus fruits are widely consumed in various ways including wine and raw fruits. These Rubus fruits have various physiological properties such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities because of their substantial quantities of phenolic compounds, constituted mainly by anthocyanins. Our results show that Rubus fruits may have potential health benefit in inflamed intestinal epithelial cells, which may be attributed to their major anthocyanins.