Red-fleshed apples rich in anthocyanins and white-fleshed apples modulate the aorta and heart proteome in hypercholesterolaemic rats: the AppleCOR study

The impact of a red-fleshed apple (RFA) rich in anthocyanins (ACNs), a white-fleshed apple (WFA) without ACNs, and an extract infusion from Aronia fruit (AI) equivalent in dose of cyanidin-3-O-galactoside (main ACN) as RFA was determined by the proteome profile of aorta and heart as key cardiovascular tissues. Hypercholesterolaemic Wistar rats were separated into six groups (n = 6/group; three males and three females) and the proteomic profiles were analyzed using nanoliquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. No adverse events were reported and all products were well tolerated. RFA downregulated C1QB and CFP in aorta and CRP in heart. WFA downregulated C1QB and CFP in aorta and C9 and C3 in aorta and heart, among other proteins. AI downregulated PRKACA, IQGAP1, and HSP90AB1 related to cellular signaling. Thus, both apples showed an anti-inflammatory effect through the complement system, while RFA reduced CRP. Regardless of the ACN content, an apple matrix effect was observed that involved different bioactive components, and inflammatory proteins were reduced.

The work summarized in this manuscript was supported in part by grants (Grant Nos. MEFOPC Project, AGL2012-40144-C03-02, and AppleCOR Project, AGL2016-76943-C2-2-R) from the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). L. Rubió enjoys a Sara Borrell post-doctoral grant (CD14/00275; Spain), A. Pedret enjoys a post-doctoral grant (PTQ-15-08068; Spain), Ú. Catalán enjoys a Pla estratègic de recerca i innovació en salut (PERIS) post-doctoral grant (SLT002/16/00239; Catalunya, Spain), and S.Yuste enjoys a grant from the University of Lleida. M.J. Motilva thanks to Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-CSIC for partial funding through the “Ayudas incorporación a escalas científicas CSIC, 2018” (Reference 201870I129). We also thank the support of Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV) and Fundació EURECAT, Reus, Spain. NFOC- Salut group is a consolidated research group of Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain (2014 SGR 873 and 2017 SGR 522).