The anti-inflammatory properties of cocoa flavanols
The anti-inflammatory properties of cocoa flavanols
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DOI：
10.1097/00005344-200606001-00010
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发表时间：
2006-01-01
影响因子：
3
通讯作者：
Gershwin, M. Eric
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Selmi, Carlo;Mao, Tin K.;Gershwin, M. Eric
慢性或急性炎症的迹象已被证明在大多数心血管疾病的多因素发病机制，包括动脉粥样硬化和慢性心力衰竭。导致炎症的触发因素和机制可能因临床条件而异，但它们共享许多共同的介质，包括类花生酸和细胞因子产生的特定模式。某些基于可可的产品可能富含称为黄烷醇的类黄酮亚类，其中一些已在模型系统中发现具有与心血管健康相关的潜在抗炎活性。事实上，实验证据表明，一些可可衍生的黄烷醇可以直接或通过作用于信号通路来减少促炎介质的产生和作用。然而，应该指出的是，可可黄烷醇在提供有意义的抗炎作用方面的任何有益作用的证据主要来自体外实验。因此，在精心设计的人类临床实验中进行更多的研究，使用可可适当地表征黄烷醇含量，将是对证据基础的一个受欢迎的补充，以明确确定这种益处是否确实存在。如果是这样的话，那么富含黄烷醇的可可可能是治疗或预防与功能失调的炎症反应有关的一系列慢性疾病的潜在候选者。
Signs of chronic or acute inflammation have been demonstrated in most cardiovascular diseases of multifactorial pathogenesis, including atherosclerosis and chronic heart failure. The triggers and mechanisms leading to inflammation may vary between clinical conditions but they share many common mediators, including specific patterns of eicosanoid and cytokine production. Certain cocoa-based products can be rich in a subclass of flavonoids known as flavanols, some of which have been found in model systems to possess potential anti-inflammatory activity relevant to cardiovascular health. Indeed, experimental evidence demonstrates that some cocoa-derived flavanols can reduce the production and effect of proinflammatory mediators either directly or by acting on signaling pathways. However, it should be noted that the evidence for any beneficial effects of cocoa flavanols in providing a meaningful anti-inflammatory action has been gathered predominantly from in vitro experiments. Therefore, additional research in well-designed human clinical experiments, using cocoa properly characterized in terms of flavanol content, would be a welcome addition to the evidence base to determine unambiguously if this benefit does indeed exist. If so, then flavanol-rich cocoa could be a potential candidate for the treatment, or possibly prevention, of the broad array of chronic diseases that are linked to dysfunctional inflammatory responses.