ABSTRACT
Fruits (and some vegetables) contain a broad array of phytochemicals, including anthocyanins, which occur as glycosides bound to various sugar molecules. Anthocyanins are reactive compounds with at least eight distinct molecular structures, which occur in an aqueous environment in different structural forms dependent upon pH, time, and temperature (McGhie and Walton, 2007, He and Giusti, 2010). Anthocyanins within fruits and vegetables are thought to serve to either attract pollinating insects and/or seed-distributing animals or act as part of the plant defense mechanism against ultraviolet (UV) exposure and/or microbe/ insect infestation (Lev-yadun and Gould, 2009). Fruit and vegetables that contain anthocyanins possess strong inherent antioxidant properties, which have led to the derived foods being marketed as “foods with high anti-oxidant capacity” and suggested health benets (Zafra-Stone et al. 2007, He and Giusti, 2010, Miguel 2011). However, recent studies reveal that fruit-and vegetable-derived anthocyanins possess other biological actions that are independent of antioxidant capability with the upregulation of adaptive signaling mechanisms within mammalian cells that directly modulate the innate immunity (Cho et al. 2001, Shih et al. 2007, Miguel 2011). The concentration of anthocyanins required to initiate these adaptive
12.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 323 12.1.1 The Innate Immune Response .......................................................... 324 12.1.2 Anthocyanins and Innate Immunity: Human Intervention Studies .... 325 12.1.3 Anthocyanins and Innate Immunity: In Vitro Studies ..................... 326
12.2 Exercise and Innate Immunity...................................................................... 327 12.2.1 Anthocyanins, Exercise, and Innate Immunity: Reduced
Susceptibility to Infection ................................................................. 328 12.2.2 Anthocyanins, Exercise, and Innate Immunity: Complement
Regular Moderate Exercise .............................................................. 329 12.2.3 Anthocyanins, Exercise, and Innate Immunity: Modulate
Inammatory Responses .................................................................. 331 12.3 Conclusions ................................................................................................... 334 References .............................................................................................................. 334
mammalian cellular events is below that required to exhibit an enhanced antioxidant capability, and recent studies (Birringer 2011) show that low concentrations of anthocyanins are able to activate hormetic adaptive cellular signaling events, which may underlie both their antioxidant-dependent and antioxidant-independent efcacy on the immune system.
