Research Information System
Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, vol.93, no.14, pp.3581-3587, 2013 (SCI-Expanded)
BACKGROUND: The beneficial effect of fruit- and vegetable-rich diets on cardiovascular health is partly attributed to the effect of their bioactive compounds on platelet function. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of bioactive-rich plant extracts and isolated bioactive metabolites on platelet function. Blood samples from healthy subjects (n=4) and subjects with metabolic syndrome (n=4) were treated with six extracts of bioactive-rich plants consumed as traditional foods in the Black Sea region, or with human metabolites of the bioactives quercetin and sulforaphane. Markers of arachidonic acid induced platelet activation and platelet-leucocyte aggregation were assessed using flow cytometry. RESULTS: In subjects with metabolic syndrome, kale extract significantly inhibited agonist induced P-selectin expression (P=0.004). Sulforaphane-cysteine-glycine, a human plasma metabolite of the related glucosinolate, glucoraphanin, significantly inhibited P-selectin and GPIIb-IIIa expression (P=0.020 and 0.024, respectively) and platelet-neutrophil aggregation (P=0.027). Additionally, pomegranate extract significantly inhibited GPIIb-IIIa expression (P=0.046) in subjects with metabolic syndrome. In healthy subjects only dill extract significantly inhibited agonist induced P-selectin expression (P=0.025). CONCLUSION: These data show that bioactive-rich extracts of kale and pomegranate that are consumed as traditional plant foods of Black Sea area countries were effective in modulating platelet function. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.