Effect of Tart Cherry Supplementation on Vascular Health in Healthy Older Adults

本临床试验的目的是研究酸樱桃补充剂对健康老年人血管健康的潜在益处。越来越多的证据表明，在细胞和动物研究中，富含类黄酮的酸樱桃可能具有保护心脏的作用，因为它们的有益作用包括抗氧化特性、改善内皮功能、调节免疫功能和炎症。然而，关于食用酸樱桃对人体影响的研究是有限的，而且没有一项研究调查了酸樱桃对内皮功能和动脉硬化的影响。血管老化主要包括动脉硬化增加和内皮功能障碍。氧化应激和炎症也与衰老过程有关。因此，本研究将研究酸樱桃补充剂对健康老年人血管内皮功能（通过血流介导的扩张测量）和动脉僵硬度（通过心踝血管指数测量）以及内皮功能障碍、炎症、血管损伤、氧化、脂质、一氧化氮状态、类黄酮和酚酸特征等生物标志物的影响。为了了解对酸樱桃补充剂产生不同反应的个体遗传变异，本研究将进一步探索酸樱桃补充剂的这些反应与心血管疾病、代谢和炎症过程风险相关位点的单核苷酸多态性之间的关系。

The purpose of this clinical trial is to investigate the potential benefits of tart cherry supplementation on vascular health in healthy older adults. There is growing evidence that flavonoid-rich tart cherries may be cardioprotective due to their beneficial effects including antioxidant properties, improvement in endothelial function, and modulation of immune function and inflammation in cellular and animal studies. However, studies that have examined the effect of dietary consumption of tart cherry in human subjects are limited, and none of the studies have investigated their effects on endothelial function and arterial stiffness. Vascular aging predominantly includes increased arterial stiffness and endothelial dysfunction. Oxidative stress and inflammation are also linked to the aging process. Therefore, this study will investigate the effect of tart cherry supplementation on endothelial function measured by flow-mediated dilatation and arterial stiffness measured by cardio-ankle vascular index as well as biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, vascular injury, oxidation, lipids, nitric oxide status, and flavonoid and phenolic acid profiles in healthy older adults. With the aim of understanding individuals genetic variations that produce different responses to tart cherry supplementation, this study will further explore the association between these responses to tart cherry supplementation and single nucleotide polymorphisms in loci related to the risk of cardiovascular diseases, metabolism and inflammatory processes.