Abstract
BackgroundIngestion of cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) has traditionally been utilized for prevention of urinary tract infections. The proanthocyanidins (PACs) in cranberry, in particular the A-type linkages have been implicated as important inhibitors of primarily P-fimbriated E. coli adhesion to uroepithelial cells. Additional experiments were required to investigate the persistence in urine samples over a broader time period, to determine the most effective dose per day and to determine if the urinary anti-adhesion effect following cranberry is detected within volunteers of different origins.MethodsTwo separate bioassays (a mannose-resistant hemagglutination assay and an original new human T24 epithelial cell-line assay) have assessed the ex-vivo urinary bacterial anti-adhesion activity on urines samples collected from 32 volunteers from Japan, Hungary, Spain and France in a randomized, double-blind versus placebo study. An in vivo Caenorhabditis elegans model was used to evaluate the influence of cranberry regimen on the virulence of E. coli strain.ResultsThe results indicated a significant bacterial anti-adhesion activity in urine samples collected from volunteers that consumed cranberry powder compared to placebo (p < 0.001). This inhibition was clearly dose-dependent, prolonged (until 24 h with 72 mg of PAC) and increasing with the amount of PAC equivalents consumed in each cranberry powder regimen. An in vivo Caenorhabditis elegans model showed that cranberry acted against bacterial virulence: E. coli strain presented a reduced ability to kill worms after a growth in urines samples of patients who took cranberry capsules. This effect is particularly important with the regimen of 72 mg of PAC.ConclusionsAdministration of PAC-standardized cranberry powder at dosages containing 72 mg of PAC per day may offer some protection against bacterial adhesion and virulence in the urinary tract. This effect may offer a nyctohemeral protection.
Highlights
Ingestion of cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) has traditionally been utilized for prevention of urinary tract infections
Effects detected by ex vivo assays mannose-resistant hemagglutination (MRHA) results indicated significant anti-adhesion activity (AAA) in urines collected from volunteers that consumed cranberry powder compared to placebo (p < 0.001) (Table 1)
In urine samples collected at 24 h, there was a significant difference between the Anti-Adhesion Activity (AAA) of urines belonging to patients who had consumed cranberry dosages containing 72 mg of PAC (50% AAA) and the AAA of urines belonging to patients who had consumed 18 or 36 mg of PAC (0 and 12% AAA, respectively) (p = 0.002) (Table 1)
Summary
Ingestion of cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) has traditionally been utilized for prevention of urinary tract infections. The proanthocyanidins (PACs) in cranberry, in particular the A-type linkages have been implicated as important inhibitors of primarily P-fimbriated E. coli adhesion to uroepithelial cells. Ingestion of cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) has traditionally been utilized for prevention of urinary tract infections (UTI). Type linkages have been implicated as important inhibitors of primarily P-fimbriated E. coli adhesion to uroepithelial cells in vitro [6,7,8,9] and ex vivo [10]. Other food sources of PAC that contain only B-type linkages (chocolate, grape, apple and green tea) were consumed. They did not elicit ex vivo bacterial antiadhesion activity. Cranberry juice with A-type PACs prevented bacterial adhesion [11]
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