( Doctors have long been encouraging Amer...)UC Davis researchers reveal apples' protective ways

"We've known for a long time that it's the flavonoids in fruits that are protecting the body. We just haven't known exactly how. Now, at least in the case of apples, we have a good idea about what's going on," said Eric Gershwin, professor of allergy, rheumatology and immunology at the UC Davis School of Medicine.

Gershwin and his colleagues found that apple extract was able to protect cells from damage and death by interfering with communication between cells.

The current findings appear in the latest issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine.Earlier studies have shown that flavonoids--which are found in chocolate and green tea, as well as other fruits and vegetables--behave as anti-oxidants, taking up free oxygen radicals that can damage precious DNA. The UC Davis study takes that research further by looking beyond the antioxidant effects of apple flavonoids.

In the current study, Gershwin and his colleagues exposed human endothelial cells to an extract of an apple mash made from different apple varieties. The researchers then challenged these cells by exposing them to tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a compound that usually triggers cell death and promotes inflammation via a mechanism called the "nuclear factor (NF) kappa B pathway." This pathway involves chemical signaling between cells. The apple extract was able to protect the cells from the normal lethal effects of TNF.

"Our study showed that the flavonoids in apples and apple juice can inhibit signals in this pathway that would otherwise damage or kill cells in the body," Gershwin explained.

The method by which apple extract protects cells is diffe
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Source:University of California, Davis - Health System