Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Life Course Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, UK.
Food Funct. 2019 Dec 11;10(12):7621-7633. doi: 10.1039/c9fo02291k.
Blueberries are a rich source of (poly)phenols, particularly anthocyanins. Epidemiological studies indicate that anthocyanin-rich foods including blueberries are associated with a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease. These observational findings are supported by a number of randomized-controlled trials showing improvements in biomarkers of cardiovascular disease risk. The beneficial effects of blueberry (poly)phenols are particularly clear when measuring flow-mediated dilation over various timeframes and study populations. However, other outcomes are less clear, such as effects on blood pressure, arterial stiffness and blood lipid profile. This may be due to the heterogeneity existing in study designs, such as duration of the intervention, and the health status of participants. Longer-term RCTs using gold standard methods in relevant populations which can be translated to the general public are needed to clarify and strengthen the evidence available. While circulating phenolic blueberry metabolites have been linked with improvements in vascular function, the biological activities and mechanisms of action of individual metabolites and their interaction in vivo are still unknown. Evaluating the bioactivities of metabolites alone and together, and analysing their structure-activity relationship in well-designed and physiologically relevant experimental and human studies are needed to understand the mechanisms of how these metabolites affect vascular function.
蓝莓是（多）酚类物质的丰富来源，特别是花色苷。流行病学研究表明，包括蓝莓在内的花色苷丰富的食物与降低心血管疾病风险有关。一些随机对照试验的观察结果支持了这一观点，这些试验表明花色苷对心血管疾病风险的生物标志物有改善作用。在测量不同时间段和研究人群的血流介导扩张时，蓝莓（多）酚的有益效果尤其明显。然而，其他结果则不太明确，例如对血压、动脉僵硬和血脂谱的影响。这可能是由于研究设计的异质性所致，如干预的持续时间以及参与者的健康状况。需要在相关人群中使用金标准方法进行长期 RCT，并将其推广到普通人群中，以澄清和加强现有证据。虽然循环酚类蓝莓代谢物与血管功能的改善有关，但单个代谢物的生物活性和作用机制及其在体内的相互作用尚不清楚。在设计良好且具有生理相关性的实验和人体研究中评估代谢物的单独和联合生物活性，并分析其结构-活性关系，对于了解这些代谢物如何影响血管功能的机制是必要的。
