Anti-inflammatory activity of aronia berry extracts in murine splenocytes

Aronia berries are a rich source of dietary polyphenols, with diverse polyphenol profiles among its genotypes. The objective of this work was to characterize the anti-inflammatory effects of underutilized aronia berries and their polyphenols using primary C57/BL6 mouse splenocytes. At 125 μg gallic acid equivalents/mL, the commercial 'Viking' aronia berry and underutilized aronia extracts inhibited LPS-stimulated IL-6 to a similar extent. 'Viking' extracts inhibited IL-6 predominately in CD4− lymphocytes. The primary polyphenol constituents of extracts were subsequently evaluated for inhibition of LPS-stimulated IL-6. Cyanidin-3-arabinoside, but not the primary aronia anthocyanin cyanidin-3-galactoside, inhibited IL-6 at 10 μg/mL. Quercetin, but not its 3-galactoside or glucoside, inhibited LPS-stimulated IL-6. Quercetin also inhibited LPS-stimulated IL-10, whereas 'Viking' extract increased splenocyte IL-10 in the absence of LPS. Thus, the capacity of aronia extracts to modulate LPS-stimulated splenocyte IL-6 and IL-10 in vitro was not attributed to its principal polyphenols.