Cherries Show Anti-Inflammatory Potential

A recent USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) study led by Darshan S. Kelley, research chemist, ARS, Western Human Nutrition Research Center, Davis, CA, has shown that natural, anti-inflammatory chemicals in Bing cherries might help fight inflammation of arthritis, heart disease and cancer. This research was funded in part by the California Cherry Advisory Board, Lodi. The findings were publicized in a press release today by ARS, and published in the April issue of the Journal of Nutrition (2006; 136:981-986).

The study involved 18 healthy men and women between the ages of 45 and 61 eating about 45 (280 grams) fresh Bing cherries every day for 28 consecutive days. The researchers then took blood samples that showed an 18% to 25% reduction of nitric oxide, C-reactive protein and RANTES, a protein that serves as a marker for T-cell activation; all three substances are indicators of inflammation. Researchers took blood samples again four weeks later, which showed that RANTES levels had continued to decline while nitric oxide and C-reactive protein levels had begun to increase. This study was a follow-up to an earlier, smaller study conducted in 2003 that showed similar results, particularly regarding the cherries' potential in treating arthritic inflammation (see http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/may04/cherry0504.htm).

The results of the study led the researchers to conclude that the natural chemicals in the cherries appear to work selectively, suppressing production of some compounds and not others. They also suggest that the cherries might prove beneficial for the management and prevention of inflammatory diseases. ARS notes that this is the longest study of this sort that involved subjects consuming fresh cherries as opposed to cherry extracts.