(P04-007-24) Chokeberry, an Indigenous Food’s Effects on Inflammation Markers in American Indians

Objectives: American Indians in the United States suffered past and ongoing negative effects because of colonization. A change from Indigenous traditional foods to a Western diet has had deleterious effects on health. We tested the effects of consuming the traditional food chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) as a juice on American Indians. We tested inflammation markers as measured by mRNA expression of Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a), Interluekin-1 beta (IL-1B) and Interluekin-6 (IL-6) in white blood cells (WBC) of the buffy coat. We also tested epigenetic effects from chokeberry juice (CJ) consumption on the methylation of 5 CpG sites in the proximal promoter region of IL-6. We assessed levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in serum and IL-6 protein in plasma.

Methods: American Indian participants had fasting morning blood samples taken for baseline data of inflammation markers prior to consuming CJ. Participants were instructed to drink 29.6 mL (2 TBSP) of CJ in 100 mL water twice a day for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, participants had morning fasting blood samples taken to determine mRNA expression of TNF-a, IL-1B, IL-6; IL-6 promoter CpG methylation; and levels of CRP in serum and IL-6 protein in plasma. Mixed effects models were used to analyze mRNA expression, and serum and plasma inflammation markers. Paired Wilcox tests were applied for epigenetic analyses.

Results: Preliminary analyses indicate mRNA expression of IL-1B (p= 0.009) and IL-6 (p=0.01) decreased, while TNF-a was not changed. Epigenetic analysis of the IL-6 promoter region indicated that 4 CpG sites (-212, -175, -162, -118) showed no change in methylation while CpG Site -227 showed a decrease (p=0.049).

Conclusions: CJ consumption had an epigenetic regulatory effect in WBCs, reducing inflammation as measured by IL-6 mRNA expression. CJ had anti-inflammatory effects in WBC measured by a decrease in IL-1B mRNA expression. These effects were not observed in serum CRP or plasma IL-6. Further research is needed to understand metabolic and epigenetic effects of traditional foods in American Indian populations.

Funding Sources: USDA-ARS. ORISE. Indigenous Trauma and Resiliency Research Center, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Science: funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the NIH.