Effects of Aronia melanocarpa on gut microbiota composition and serum metabolome in mice on high-fat diet

Overall goal of this project is to determine the inflammation lowering impact of anthocyanin-rich Aronia melanocarpa berries. Inflammation is an underlying mechanism driving the development of several diseases. Microorganisms (microbiome), host tissues, and immune cells residing in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) are a key source of pro-inflammatory signals that may cause the host organism to become inflamed. Anthocyanins are bioactive compounds with established anti-inflammatory and microbiome altering properties. We hypothesized that the GIT microbiome is a key determinant of host inflammation that can be manipulated by anthocyanin-rich berries to lower inflammation. We assembled a cohort of low inflammation and high inflammation individuals and characterize their GIT microbiome and performed anthropometric measurements, basal measures of metabolism and metabolic health, and examined lipid, metabolomic, and inflammation responses to a high-fat meal challenge. Following this clinical trial, germ-free mice were humanized with fecal microbial transplants from humans with distinct inflammation phenotypes to determine the impact of Aronia supplementation on the gut microbiome, metabolism, and inflammation.