Cranberry juice concentrate: the best protection against protein oxidation.

In recent years, antioxidants in various forms have received increased attention from consumers and, consequently, developers of dietary supplements. They are now recognized for their ability to combat age-related and degenerative diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment and immune dysfunction. (1) For many, the premise of healthy ageing has become directly related to the concept that antioxidants protect against free radicals.

Antioxidants are compounds that are naturally manufactured by the body and/or are ingested, primarily as compounds derived from fruits and vegetables; they have the ability to stabilize free radicals by donating an electron and, at the same time, do not become free radicals themselves. Consequently, a variety of different sources of antioxidants has recently made its way onto the market in the form of dietary supplements. But where the antioxidant effect of fresh fruits and vegetables is well documented and generally accepted, consumers, scientists and formulators are questioning the efficacy of antioxidants when they are consumed in dry form as dietary supplements.

Previously, there was a lack of direct experimental evidence from randomized trials that proved that antioxidants from dietary supplement were beneficial to health; but, Lallemand Health Ingredients is now able to announce the results of an unprecedented pilot clinical study showing the powerful antioxidant potential of Nutricran 90S, a concentrated cranberry juice food supplement from Decas Botanical Synergies.

Proven Antioxidant Effect

The North American Cranberry, Vaccinium macrocarpon, has been proven to be one of the richest sources of antioxidants compared with other fruit and berries and is often promoted for its antioxidant capabilities. (2) However, this effect had never been tested on cranberry juice in dry form. The new pilot study, conducted at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry of Palacky University (Olomouc, Czech Republic), was recently published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. (3) The investigators assessed the effects of consuming different doses of NutriCran 90S food supplement capsules by 65 healthy young women for 8 weeks.

The study showed that the consumption of cranberry juice powder (1200 mg/day [Group III]) provides a strong and long-lasting antioxidant effect on proteins. The serum levels of advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs), a parameter of late oxidative stress in cells, were strongly reduced. Moreover, this effect turned out to be quite enduring; the AOPP levels were still lower than baseline concentrations 8 months after the trial ended, and were well below the country average.

Investigation Protein Oxidation

The antioxidant effect of the cranberry in dry form was evaluated by performing advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs) measurements in serum. In the case of oxidative stress, excess free radicals are generated and it is their interaction with cell proteins that generates AOPPs and impairs protein functions. AOPPs, in turn, activate pro-inflammatory cytokines, which initiate the oxidative burst of neutrophils, monocytes and T lymphocytes, leading to inflammatory reactions. (4) Patients with conditions such as ischemic heart disease and uremic syndrome have elevated AOPP levels. Additional studies have examined the antiatherogenic effect of cranberry, and other trials have linked oxidative stress with the increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases; as such, they have investigated how antioxidants in fruits and vegetables inactivate the reactive oxygen involved in the initiation or progression of heart disease and cancer. (5-7)

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In Group II (400 mg/day), the AOPP levels rose on days 28 and 56, whereas a significant drop was observed in Group III after 4 weeks of intervention to a level much lower than the average AOPP level in the Czech population. Additional analysis of further antioxidant parameters for this group showed a drop in total plasma sulthydryl (SH) group concentrations on day 56, and an increase in lipid peroxidation products (MDA) in erythrocytes on days 28 and 56. To observe the long-lasting effect of dry cranberry powder, the AOPP levels were measured again at 8 months in 10 volunteers from Group III. Although the AOPP levels at day 296 were significantly higher than during the study, it had not returned to the level measured on day 0, signifying that the consumption of dry cranberry powder has a long-lasting antioxidant effect. Thus, the study demonstrates that Dry Cranberry Concentrate has antiatherogenic effects.

Cranberry Supplements and UTIs

Cranberry fruits and juice have been used to prevent Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) for decades and the medical efficacy of cranberry juice powder has been evaluated in multiple studies. Recent research has revealed how the active compounds in cranberries have the ability to prevent the adhesion of Escherichia coli to uroepithelial cells--which is responsible for 85% of UTIs. The other conclusion arising from the study confirms the efficacy of NutriCran 90S in the prevention of UTIs--a condition that affects 3 out of 4 women in their lifetime, with 25-40% of these women suffering from recurring infections. Thus, a daily consumption of 1200 mg of cranberry powder showed a 40% reduction in the adherence of uropathogenic E. coli in urine (ex vivo).

Anti-Adherence Effect

The post-consumption anti-adherence effect of cranberry products in human urine is well known and documented. (8) The new study measured the anti-adherence activity of dry cranberry juice concentrate and freeze dried urine on 12 pathogenic E. coli strains isolated from the urine of patients with UTIs, according to their ability to agglutinate red blood cells and by using a quantitative biofilm assay. The amount of antiadherence was tested by comparing the E. coli adherence in the placebo group with two concentrations of dry cranberry juice concentrate in vivo and freeze dried urine from volunteers taking 1200 mg/ day ex vivo. The analysis showed a significant reduction when a concentration of 0.037 [micro]g/mL was used, with up to 80% less E. coli adherence being demonstrated for a concentration of 2400 [micro]g/mL (in vitro). This shows that dry cranberry juice concentrate has a significant anti-adhesion effect (p <0.05). The further analysis of cranberry metabolites showed that the urine from Group III participants contained significantly higher levels of hippuric acid, conjugates of some other phenolic acids and quercetin glucuronide, but otherwise showed no significant increase in acidity.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Safety of Long-Term Consumption

Cranberry is approved as a GRAS ingredient and, therefore, bears no general risk with regard to regular consumption; however, none of the human studies with cranberries, cranberry juice, concentrate or dry forms has evaluated the effect of 8 weeks of consumption. Testing the safety of long-term, regular consumption was evaluated by measuring basic biochemical and hematological parameters in urine in two groups consuming 400 mg/day and 1200 mg/day. The parameters included cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triacylglycerols, ALT, AST, GMT, urea, creatinine and uric acid. All variations in the measured parameters for these moieties during the study were within the normal physiological range and, as such, no adverse effect of the food supplement was observed.

In Summary

The trend for supplemental antioxidants is clear. Consumers want proof that antioxidant supplements have the desired effect and that they are both bioavailable and bioactive. A critical factor in creating future antioxidant formulations is, therefore, choosing an active ingredient with a documented benefit. Nutricran 90S is the only dry cranberry concentrate with a documented antioxidant effect that has been done by an independent research facility. The authors of the Czech study highlight the fact that a protein oxidation protection effect, expressed in AOPP levels, has never been described to date for plant-based antioxidants. The dry cranberry concentrate provides strong protection against protein oxidation, to a level never previously attained with antioxidant-containing food supplements, and gives developers the possibility of launching an antioxidant product with a proven and long-lasting effect.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

For further information

Julie Rosenborg

Area Sales Manager

Lallemand Health Ingredients

Toftebakken 9B

DK-3460 Birkerod, Denmark.

Tel. [phone]

[e-mail]

www.lallemandhi.com

References

(1.) M.R. McCall and B. Frei, "Can Antioxidant Vitamins Materially Reduce Oxidative Damage in Humans?" Free Radic. Biol. Med. 26(7/8), 1034-1053 (1999) and D. Harman, "Nutritional Implications of the Free-Radical Theory of Aging," J. Am. Coll. Nutr. 1, 27-34 (1982).

(2.) J.A. Vinson, et al., "Phenol Antioxidant Quantity and Quality in Foods: Fruits," J. Agric. Food Chem. 49(11), 5315-5321 (2001).

(3.) K. Valentova, et al., "Biosafety, Antioxidant Status, and Metabolites in Urine after Consumption of Dried Cranberry Juice in Healthy Women: A Pilot Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial," J. Agric. Food Chem. 55(8), 3217-3224 (2007).

(4.) M. Kalousova, et al., "Advanced Glycoxidation End Products in Chronic Diseases--Clinical Chemistry and Genetic Background," Mutat. Res. 579, 37-46 (2005).

(5.) G. Ruel, et al., "Changes in Plasma Antioxidant Capacity and Oxidized Low Density Lipoprotein Levels in Men After Short-Term Cranberry Juice Consumption," Metabolism 54, 856-861 (2005).

(6.) S.J. Duthie, et al., "The Effects of Cranberry Juice Consumption on Antioxidant Status and Biomarkers Relating to Heart Disease and Cancer in Healthy Human Volunteers," Eur J. Nutr. 45, 113-122 (2006).

(7.) F. Deyhim, et al., "Cranberry Juice Increases Antioxidant Status Without Affecting Cholesterol Homeostasis in Orchidectomized Rats," J. Med. Food 10(1), 49-53 (2007).

(8.) A.B. Howell, et al., "A-Type Cranberry Proanthocyanidins and Uropathogenic Bacterial Anti-Adhesion Activity," Phytochemistry 66, 2281-2291 (2005).