Wild blueberry (poly)phenols can improve vascular function and cognitive performance in healthy older individuals: a double-blind randomized controlled trial
Wood E, Hein S, Mesnage R, Fernandes F, Abhayaratne N, Xu Y, Zhang Z, Bell L, Williams C, Rodriguez-Mateos A
The American journal of clinical nutrition · 84 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Randomized controlled trial (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
- Intake measured by
- Intake biomarkers
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Government
- China Scholarship Council
Based on 1 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2023-03-25 · Am J Clin Nutr · vol. 117 · issue 6 · pp. 1306–1319
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Cited
- 122 citations · more than 99% of similar papers · 11.2× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 67 works
- Access
- Free to read
- Research areas
- Barrier Structure and Function Studies · Cardiovascular Health and Disease Prevention · Neurological Disease Mechanisms and Treatments
- Keywords
- Placebo, Crossover study, Medicine, Blood pressure, Internal medicine, Pathology
- MeSH
- humans, fruit, phenols, phenol, anthocyanins, powders, double-blind method, cognition, memory, short-term, aged, blueberry plants
10 authors
From GB, DE, PT
- Eleanor WoodKing's College London
- Sabine HeinKing's College London; University of Reading
- Robin MesnageKing's College London; Buchinger Wilhelmi
- Filipe FernandesKing's College London; Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa; King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Nimaya AbhayaratneKing's College London
- Yifan XuKing's College London
Abstract
Background
Evidence suggests that the intake of blueberry (poly)phenols is associated with improvements in vascular function and cognitive performance. Whether these cognitive effects are linked to increases in cerebral and vascular blood flow or changes in the gut microbiota is currently unknown.
Methods
A double-blind, parallel randomized controlled trial was conducted in 61 healthy older individuals aged 65-80 y. Participants received either 26 g of freeze-dried wild blueberry (WBB) powder (302 mg anthocyanins) or a matched placebo (0 mg anthocyanins). Endothelial function measured by flow-mediated dilation (FMD), cognitive function, arterial stiffness, blood pressure (BP), cerebral blood flow (CBF), gut microbiome, and blood parameters were measured at baseline and 12 wk following daily consumption. Plasma and urinary (poly)phenol metabolites were analyzed using microelution solid-phase extraction coupled with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.
Results
A significant increase in FMD and reduction in 24 h ambulatory systolic BP were found in the WBB group compared with the placebo group (0.86%; 95% CI: 0.56, 1.17, P < 0.001; -3.59 mmHg; 95% CI: -6.95, -0.23, P = 0.037; respectively). Enhanced immediate recall on the auditory verbal learning task, alongside better accuracy on a task-switch task was also found following WBB treatment compared with placebo (P < 0.05). Total 24 h urinary (poly)phenol excretion increased significantly in the WBB group compared with placebo. No changes in the CBF or gut microbiota composition were found.
Conclusions
Daily intake of WBB powder, equivalent to 178 g fresh weight, improves vascular and cognitive function and decreases 24 h ambulatory systolic BP in healthy older individuals. This suggests that WBB (poly)phenols may reduce future CVD risk in an older population and may improve episodic memory processes and executive functioning in older adults at risk for cognitive decline. Clinical Trial Registration number in clinicaltrials.gov: NCT04084457.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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