Chondroprotective effects of purple corn anthocyanins on advanced glycation end products induction through suppression of NF-κB and MAPK signaling

Chuntakaruk H, Kongtawelert P, Pothacharoen P · Scientific Reports

AGE exposure drove glycosaminoglycan and uronic acid out of pig cartilage explants; purple corn extract reduced that loss dose-dependently, and in human chondrocytes the three anthocyanins and the metabolite protocatechuic acid suppressed the MMP-1, -3 and -13 induction and the NF-κB and MAPK signalling the AGEs switched on. One of the few experiments that links glycation products and a dietary polyphenol in the same cartilage preparation.

Population

Porcine articular cartilage explants and human articular chondrocytes exposed to advanced glycation end products

Intervention

Purple corn anthocyanins (cyanidin-, pelargonidin- and peonidin-3-O-glucoside) and the metabolite protocatechuic acid

Comparator

AGE-exposed cartilage without anthocyanins

Limitations

Explant and cell culture: the explants were pig, the chondrocytes human. Purple corn, not cherry, is the source; the shared claim is about anthocyanins as a class. The authors calculate that the effective 5 μM of cyanidin-3-glucoside corresponds to about 18 g a day in a person, against a US anthocyanin intake near 12.5 mg. Funded by the authors' own institute.