Apple polyphenols each day may help keep intestinal inflammation away
Summary: phenolic compounds in apples have beneficial effects for autoimmune inflammatory bowel disease.A paper just published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology demonstrates the mechanism by which polyphenols in apples help quell the inflammation of the autoimmune diseases ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. The authors state:
"Human IBD, including UC and Crohn's disease, is characterized by a chronic, relapsing, and remitting condition that exhibits various features of immunological inflammation and affects at least one/1000 people in Western countries. Polyphenol extracts from a variety of plants have been shown to have immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, treatment with APP [apple polyphenols] was investigated to ameliorate chemically induced colitis."
The authors administered APP to study animals genetically predisposed to autoimmune inflammatory bowel disease win whom inflammation as induced by chemical irritation. Their findings documented an protective effect:
"Oral but not peritoneal administration of APP during colitis induction significantly protected C57BL/6 mice against disease, as evidenced by the lack of weight loss, colonic inflammation, and shortening of the colon. APP administration dampened the mRNA expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-17, IL-22, CXCL9, CXCL10, CXCL11, and IFN-γ in the colons of mice with colitis."
A rational treatment strategy for autoimmune disease requires an assessment of the factors involved in the loss of self-tolerance, including integrity of barrier systems, glutathione production and recycling, nitric oxide synthase production, regulatory T cell function, cytokine regulation, antigenic environmental triggering agents, lifestyle factors that modulate genetic expression, etc. For palliation, however, interventions that can reduce inflammation without side effects are desirable. Although an extract concentrates polyphenols more than is obtained by eating apples, compounds like this and resveratrol are worthy of consideration for adjunctive use. The authors conclude:
"...these results show that oral administration of APP protects against experimental colitis and diminishes proinflammatory cytokine expression via T cells."