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Obesity-related inflammatory modulation by juçara berry (Euterpe edulis Mart.) supplementation in Brazilian adults: a double-blind randomized controlled trial

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Abstract

Purpose

Obesity is an inflammatory-related disease, which recruits immune system cells triggering to imbalanced production of cytokines. Obesity management and treatment using foods bioactive compounds have gained clinical and scientific relevance. Juçara (Euterpe edulis Mart.) fruit is rich in fibers, unsaturated lipids and, anthocyanins showing potential health benefits. Thus, we investigated the effect of juçara pulp intake on inflammatory status of monocytes from obese individuals.

Methods

It is a placebo-controlled, randomized double-blind trial. Twenty-seven obese participants (BMI between 30.0 and 39.9 kg/m2) of both genders from 31 to 59-year-old, divided into two groups: 5 g juçara freeze-dried pulp or 5 g of placebo for 6 weeks. Before and after supplementation, blood samples were collected and monocytes obtained and stimulated with lipopolysaccharides. After 24 h of incubation, the cells and supernatants were analyzed.

Results

Post-treatment, juçara reduced TLR4, and IL-6 mRNA compared to placebo. Juçara also increased IL-10 mRNA in post-treatment. The protein expression of TLR4 pathway post-treatment, MYD88 expression reduced in juçara group compared to placebo. The juçara post-treatment reduced pIKKα/β compared to the placebo. Ob-R protein levels were higher in the juçara group post-treatment compared to pre-treatment. IL-6, TNF-α, and MCP-1 production by monocytes were reduced by juçara in post-treatment compared to pre-treatment levels. The supplementation increased IL-10 in juçara group with LPS compared to pre-treatment and versus juçara group without LPS.

Conclusion

These results demonstrated a proinflammatory state at the beginning, which was improved by juçara pulp consumption. Our results suggest juçara pulp as a potential tool against the proinflammatory status of obesity.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge to Dylbert Fragoso Silvestre for technical assistance on the English language. Part of these results was previously presented as a conference abstract, in the 25th European Congress on Obesity by the authors.

Funding

Supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, (2016/14133-0; 2015/13875-0). LPP, LMO, VVR and JRV are recipients of CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação Interdisciplinar em Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Santos, 11015-020, Brazil

    Aline Boveto Santamarina, Giovana Jamar, Laís Vales Mennitti & Helena de Cássia Cesar

  2. Departamento de Fisiologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, 04023-062, Brazil

    Lila Missae Oyama

  3. Departamento de Biociências, Laboratório de Nutrição e Fisiologia Endócrina (LaNFE), Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Silva Jardim, 136, Térreo, Vila Mathias, Santos, São Paulo, 11015-020, Brazil

    José Ronnie Vasconcelos, Veridiana Vera de Rosso & Luciana Pellegrini Pisani

Authors
  1. Aline Boveto Santamarina
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  2. Giovana Jamar
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  3. Laís Vales Mennitti
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  4. Helena de Cássia Cesar
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  5. José Ronnie Vasconcelos
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  6. Lila Missae Oyama
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  7. Veridiana Vera de Rosso
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  8. Luciana Pellegrini Pisani
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Contributions

LPP, LMO and VVR designed the study protocol; ABS, LVM, HCC, and GJ conducted experiments and analyzed data. LPP and ABS critically revised the article for important intellectual content; LPP and ABS contributed to writing the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luciana Pellegrini Pisani.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

The study procedures were in accordance with the guidelines set in the International Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Universidade Federal de São Paulo (CEP-UNIFESP No. 0319/2017) and registered in Plataforma Brasil database. The written informed consent was obtained from all volunteers.

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Santamarina, A.B., Jamar, G., Mennitti, L.V. et al. Obesity-related inflammatory modulation by juçara berry (Euterpe edulis Mart.) supplementation in Brazilian adults: a double-blind randomized controlled trial. Eur J Nutr 59, 1693–1705 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-019-02024-2

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