Short-term cactus pear fruit supplementation ameliorates the inflammatory profile and is associated with improved antioxidant status. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Short-term cactus pear [(L.) Mill] fruit supplementation ameliorates the inflammatory profile and is associated with improved antioxidant status among healthy humans.
Food Nutr Res. 2018 ;62. Epub 2018 Aug 20. PMID: 30150921
Alessandro Attanzio
Background: Dietary ingredients and food components are major modifiable factors protecting immune system and preventing the progression of a low-grade chronic inflammation responsible for age-related diseases.
Objective: Our study explored whether cactus pear (,cultivar) fruit supplementation modulates plasma inflammatory biomarkers in healthy adults. Correlations between inflammatory parameters and antioxidant status were also assessed in parallel.
Design: In a randomised, 2-period (2 weeks/period), crossover, controlled-feeding study, conducted in 28 healthy volunteers [mean age 39.96 (±9.15) years, BMI 23.1 (±1.5) kg/m], the effects of a diet supplemented with cactus pear fruit pulp (200 g, twice a day) were compared with those of an equivalent diet with isocaloric fresh fruit substitution.
Results: With respect to control, cactus pear diet decreased (<0.05) the pro-inflammatory markers such as tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β, interferon-γ (INF)-γ, IL-8, C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), whereas it increased (<0.05) the anti-inflammatory marker IL-10. Moreover, the diet decreased ratios between pro-inflammatory biomarkers (CRP, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α) and anti-inflammatory biomarker (IL-10) (<0.05). Cactus pear supplementation caused an increase (<0.05) in dermal carotenoids (skin carotenoid score, SCS), a biomarker of the body antioxidant status, with correlations between SCS and CRP (= -0.905,<0.0001), IL-8 (= -0.835,<0.0001) and IL-10 (= 0.889,<0.0001).
Conclusions: The presently observed modulation of both inflammatory markers and antioxidant balance suggests cactus pear fruit as a novel and beneficial component to be incorporated into current healthy dietary habits.