X-Message-Number: 31298
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 09:56:53 -0800 (PST)
From: 
Subject: dietary plums may increase human lifespan

[Dried plums increase bone density in humans. There has been no lifespan
test with dried plums in any animal species, but IMHO plums seem likely to
reduce human mortality by inhibiting atherosclerosis, amyloid, diabetes, as
well as osteoporosis.]

J Womens Health Gend Based Med. 2002 Jan-Feb;11(1):61-8.
Dried plums improve indices of bone formation in postmenopausal women.
    Arjmandi BH, Khalil DA, Lucas EA, Georgis A, Stoecker BJ, Hardin C,
Payton ME, Wild RA. Department of Nutritional Sciences, Oklahoma State
University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078-6141, USA.
    Menopause drastically increases the risk of osteoporosis. Aside from
drug therapy, lifestyle and nutritional factors play an important role in
the maintenance of skeletal health. Our recent findings suggest that dried
plums, a rich source of phenolic and flavonoid compounds, are highly
effective in modulating bone mass in an ovarian hormone-deficient rat model
of osteoporosis. The objective of this study was to examine whether the
addition of dried plums to the diets of postmenopausal women positively
influences markers of bone turnover. Fifty-eight postmenopausal women not on
hormone replacement therapy (HRT) were randomly assigned to consume either
100 g dried plums or 75 g dried apples daily for 3 months. Both dried fruit
regimens provided similar amount of calories, fat, carbohydrate, and fiber.
Serum and urinary biochemical markers of bone status were assessed before
and after treatment. In comparison with corresponding baseline values, only
dried plums significantly increased serum levels of insulin-like growth
factor-I (IGF-I) and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BSAP) activity.
Higher levels of both serum IGF-I and BSAP are associated with greater rates
of bone formation. Serum and urinary markers of bone resorption, however,
were not affected by either dietary regimen. The results of this study
suggest that dried plums may exert positive effects on bone in
postmenopausal women. Longer duration studies are needed to confirm the
beneficial effects of dried plum on bone mineral density (BMD) and the
skeletal health of postmenopausal women.
PMID: 11860726

[Dried plums are not likely to increase breast cancer risk in humans.]

Am J Clin Nutr. 2002 Dec;76(6):1422-7.
Effects of prune consumption on the ratio of 2-hydroxyestrone to
16alpha-hydroxyestrone.
    Kasim-Karakas SE, Almario RU, Gregory L, Todd H, Wong R, Lasley BL.
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Clinical
Nutrition, and Vascular Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95817,
USA.
    BACKGROUND: A higher urinary ratio of the biologically inactive estrogen
metabolite, 2-hydroxyestrone (2OHE1), to the biologically active metabolite,
16alpha-hydroxyestrone (16alphaOHE1), may be associated with a lower risk of
breast cancer. High fiber intake is also associated with decreased breast
cancer risk. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effects of prunes, which are
naturally rich in both soluble and insoluble fiber, on the concentrations of
2OHE1 and 16alphaOHE1 and on the ratio of 2OHE1 to 16alphaOHE1. DESIGN:
Nineteen healthy premenopausal women consumed their habitual diets for 3
menstrual cycles and then consumed 100 g prunes/d for the next 3 cycles.
Concentrations of urinary 2OHE1 and 16alphaOHE1 were determined during the
follicular and luteal phases. RESULTS: Prune supplementation increased total
and soluble fiber intakes by 4 and 2 g/d, respectively (P < 0.001). Mean
(+/- SEM) luteal 2OHE1 excretion decreased from 3.92 +/- 0.79 to 2.20 +/-
0.40 nmol/mmol creatinine during the third cycle (P = 0.017). Luteal
16alphaOHE1 excretion decreased from 1.38 +/- 0.24 to 0.87 +/- 0.10 and 0.87
+/- 0.15 nmol/mmol creatinine during the first and third cycles,
respectively (P = 0.018 for both values). Follicular 16alphaOHE1 excretion
decreased significantly only during the first cycle (from 0.82 +/- 0.12 to
0.45 +/- 0.09 nmol/mmol creatinine; P = 0.005). The 2OHE1-16alphaOHE1 ratio
did not change significantly after prune supplementation. CONCLUSIONS: Prune
supplementation significantly decreased the excretion of 16alphaOHE1 during
the follicular phase of the first menstrual cycle and during the luteal
phases of both the first and third menstrual cycles. The 2OHE1-16alphaOHE1
ratio did not change significantly. The potential significance of the
decrease in 16alphaOHE1 excretion, without a change in the 2OHE1-16alphaOHE1
ratio, on the prevention of estrogen-dependent cancers remains to be
determined.
PMID: 12450912

Br J Nutr. 2008 Sep 2:1-7. [Epub ahead of print]
Dried plums (prunes) reduce atherosclerosis lesion area in apolipoprotein
E-deficient mice.
  Gallaher CM, Gallaher DD. Department of Food Science and Nutrition,
University of Minnesota, 1334 Eckles Ave., St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
  Dried plums are a fruit high in pectin with substantial antioxidant
activity. Previous studies in rats and man indicate that dried plums or plum
fibre lower liver and plasma cholesterol, respectively. The apoE-deficient
mouse, which develops atherosclerotic lesions rapidly when fed cholesterol,
was used to determine the ability of dried plums to reduce atherosclerosis.
Diets containing 0% cholesterol and either 0 (B+C), 4% (Lo DP) or 9% (Hi DP)
dried plum powder were fed for 5 months. An additional group fed the basal
diet without cholesterol (BC group. Percentage arterial tree atherosclerotic
lesion area was significantly lower in the B<05), with a trend for a
difference between the B+C and Hi DP groups (P0C and Lo DP groups with the
Hi DP group trending lower than the B+C group. Urinary TBARS excretion did
not differ among the groups. These results suggest that consuming dried
plums may help slow the development of atherosclerosis.
PMID: 18761779

[The main active ingrediants in plums appears to be polyphenols.]

J Nutr Biochem. 2008 May 19. [Epub ahead of print]
Dried plum polyphenols attenuate the detrimental effects of TNF-alpha on
osteoblast function coincident with up-regulation of Runx2, Osterix and
IGF-I.
    Bu SY, Hunt TS, Smith BJ. Department of Nutritional Sciences, College of
Human Environmental Science, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
74078.
    Previous studies have demonstrated that dried plums which contain high
amounts of polyphenols can restore bone mass and structure, and
significantly increase indices of bone formation. The purpose of this study
was to determine how dried plum polyphenols influence osteoblast activity
and mineralized nodule formation under normal and inflammatory conditions.
MC3T3-E1 cells were plated and pretreated with dried plum polyphenols (0,
2.5, 5, 10 and 20 mug/ml) and 24 h later stimulated with TNF-alpha (0 or 1.0
ng/ml). The 5, 10 and 20 mug/ml doses of polyphenols significantly increased
intracellular ALP activity under normal conditions at 7 and 14 days, and
restored the TNF-alpha-induced suppression of intracellular ALP activity by
14 days (P<.001). Polyphenols also increased mineralized nodule formation
under normal and inflammatory conditions. In the absence of TNF-alpha, 5
mug/ml of polyphenols significantly up-regulated the growth factor, IGF-I,
compared to controls, and the 5 and 10 mug/ml doses increased the expression
of lysyl oxidase involved in collagen crosslinking. TNF-alpha decreased the
expression of Runx2, Osterix and IGF-I, and polyphenols restored their mRNA
levels to that of the controls. Although TNF-alpha failed to alter lysyl
oxidase at 18 h, the polyphenols up-regulated its expression (P<.05) in the
presence of TNF-alpha. As expected, TNF-alpha up-regulated RANKL mRNA and
polyphenols suppressed RANKL expression without altering OPG. Based on these
findings, we conclude that dried plum polyphenols enhance osteoblast
activity and function by up-regulating Runx2, Osterix and IGF-I and
increasing lysyl oxidase expression, and at the same time attenuate
osteoclastogenesis signaling.
PMID: 18495459

[Could domestic plum stimulate immunity?]

Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis. 2008 Feb 7. [Epub ahead of print]
Immunostimulatory effects of oriental plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.).
    Lee SH, Lillehoj HS, Cho SM, Chun HK, Park HJ, Lim CI, Lillehoj EP.
Animal and Natural Resources Institute, Agricultural Research Service,
United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA; National
Rural Resources Development Institute, National Institute of Agricultural
Science and Technology, Rural Development Administration, Suwon 441-853,
South Korea.
    The fruit of the plum tree (Prunus salicina Lindl.) has been used as a
traditional medicinal food in humans to enhance immunity against infectious
agents and to treat cancers. However, limited information exists on the
mechanisms responsible for its immune enhancing properties. In this study,
the immunostimulatory effects of a methanol extract of plum fruit following
methanol evaporation and dissolving in PBS were assessed by in vitro
lymphocyte proliferation, tumor cell cytotoxicity, and nitric oxide (NO)
production. The crude methanol extract stimulated spleen lymphocyte
proliferation and NO production by cultured macrophages, and inhibited the
viability of tumor cells, significantly greater than media controls.
Sequential gel filtration chromatographic separation of the extract on
Sephadex G-25 and Sephacryl S-200 gel filtration columns resulted in a more
purified preparation that retained the ability to induce
lymphoproliferation, tumor killing, and NO production. These results suggest
that Prunus salicina contains immunostimulatory components that potentially
may be useful in human and veterinary medicine.
PMID: 18262269

[Chlorogenic acid reduces anxiety. Plums are rich in chlorogenic acid .]

 J Neurol Sci. 2007 Nov 15;262(1-2):77-84. Epub 2007 Aug 14.
Chlorogenic acid, a polyphenol from Prunus domestica (Mirabelle), with
coupled anxiolytic and antioxidant effects.
    Bouayed J, Rammal H, Dicko A, Younos C, Soulimani R. Ethnobotanique et
Pharmacologie/ Anxiete, Stress Oxydant et Bioactivite, Universite P.
Verlaine Metz, BP 4102, 57040, Metz Cedex 01, France.
    BACKGROUND: Oxidative stress is linked to neurodegenerative diseases,
cancer, cardiovascular diseases and to some behaviors, such as anxiety and
depression. In particular, recent research observed a close relationship
between oxidative stress and anxiety. METHODS: We investigated the
anxiolytic effect of chlorogenic acid, a dietary antioxidant present in
fruits, in mouse models of anxiety including the light/dark test, the
elevated plus maze and the free exploratory test. Moreover, the
antioxidative effect of chlorogenic acid on peripheral blood granulocytes
was investigated. RESULTS: Chlorogenic acid (20 mg/kg) induced a decrease in
anxiety-related behaviors suggesting an anxiolytic-like effect of this
polyphenol. The anti-anxiety effect was blocked by flumazenil suggesting
that anxiety is reduced by activation of the benzodiazepine receptor. In
vitro, chlorogenic acid protected granulocytes from oxidative stress.
CONCLUSIONS: Chlorogenic acid is one of the most abundant polyphenols in
fruits. We demonstrated in vivo and in vitro for the first time, that
chlorogenic acid has anxiolytic effects coupled with antioxidant activity.
Thus, fruits such as plums (Mirabelle), apples and cherries may provide
health-promoting advantages to consumers.
PMID: 17698084

[Dried plums are intermediate between blueberry and strawberry in efficacy
against amyloid. It is little wonder that fruit ingestion is strongly
associated with reduced dementia risk in humans.]

J Alzheimers Dis. 2004 Aug;6(4):403-11; discussion 443-9.
Fruit extracts antagonize Abeta- or DA-induced deficits in Ca2+ flux in
M1-transfected COS-7 cells.
    Joseph JA, Fisher DR, Carey AN. USDA-Human Nutrition Research Center on
Aging, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
    Evidence suggests that there is a selective sensitivity to oxidative
stress (OSS) among muscarinic receptor (MAChR) subtypes with M1, M2 and M4
showing > OSS than M3 or M5 subtypes in transfected COS-7 cells. This may be
important in determining the regional specificity in neuronal aging and
Alzheimer disease (AD). We assessed the effectiveness of blueberry (BB) and
other high antioxidant (HA) fruit extracts (boysenberry, BY; cranberry, CB;
black currant, BC; strawberry, SB; dried plums, DP; and grape, GR) on the
toxic effects of Abeta 25-35 (100 microM, 24 hrs) and DA (1 mM, 4 hrs) on
calcium buffering (Recovery) following oxotremorine (750 microM) -induced
depolarization in M1AChR-transfected COS-7 cells, and on cell viability
following DA (4 hrs) exposure. The extracts showed differential levels of
Recovery protection in comparisons to the non-supplemented controls that was
dependent upon whether DA or Abeta was used as the pretreatment.
Interestingly, assessments of DA-induced decrements in viability revealed
that all of the extracts had some protective effects. These findings suggest
that the putative toxic effects of Abeta or DA might be reduced by HA fruit
extracts.
PMID: 15345811

[Dried plum can not only prevent osteoporosis in rats, it can also reverse
it. Thus plums can actually rejuvenate an aging biomarker.]

Menopause. 2005 Nov-Dec;12(6):755-62. Epub 2005 Nov 8.
Dried plum reverses bone loss in an osteopenic rat model of osteoporosis.
    Deyhim F, Stoecker BJ, Brusewitz GH, Devareddy L, Arjmandi BH.
Department of Nutritional Sciences, 301 Human Environmental Sciences,
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, 74078-6141, USA.
    OBJECTIVE: We previously reported the efficacy of dried plum (Prunus
domestica L.) in preventing ovariectomy-induced bone loss in a rat model of
osteoporosis and improving bone biomarkers in postmenopausal women. The
present study evaluated whether dried plum was able to restore bone mass in
osteopenic ovariectomized rats. DESIGN: Ninety-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats
were either sham-operated (Sham; one group) or ovariectomized (Ovx; five
groups) and were fed a standard diet for 40 days to establish bone loss and
subsequently experimental treatments were initiated. Sham, Ovx control, and
Ovx + 17beta-estradiol (E2; 10 microg/kg body weight per day) animals
continued to receive the standard diet, whereas the remaining three Ovx
groups received the following dietary treatments: Ovx + 5% dried plum (low
dose), Ovx + 15% dried plum (medium dose), and Ovx + 25% dried plum (high
dose). After 60 days, blood and bone specimens were collected for analyses.
RESULTS: Dried plum, as low as 5%, was effective in restoring femoral and
tibial bone density. Dried plum increased lumbar bone density as well, with
HD achieving a statistical significance. The increase in femoral bone
density of dried plum-fed rats resulted in improved bone quality as
indicated by 6.9% and 6.0% improvement in overall yield and ultimate force,
respectively. Varying doses of dried plum were also able to significantly
improve trabecular microarchitectural properties in comparison with
ovariectomized controls. CONCLUSIONS: The improvement in biomechanical
properties of long bones due to dried plum, in part, may be due to the
favorable microstructural changes as evident by enhanced tibial bone volume
and connectivity. Loss of bone volume accompanied by loss of trabecular
connectivity is generally believed to be an irreversible process, but our
observations suggest that dried plum improves trabecular microstructure of
tibia after losses have already occurred.
PMID: 16278620

[Dried plums likely would lower diabetes risk in humans too.]

Biomed Res. 2005 Oct;26(5):193-200.
Anti-hyperglycemic effects of plum in a rat model of obesity and type 2
diabetes, Wistar fatty rat.
    Utsunomiya H, Yamakawa T, Kamei J, Kadonosono K, Tanaka S. Department of
Pathology, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan.
    Dried plums, considered a healthy food in the West and used as medicine
in India, contain phenolic compounds with protective actions against
age-related diseases. Effects of oral plum ekisu (concentrated juice) on
lipid and glucose tolerance were assessed in insulin-resistant obese Wistar
fatty rats. Plum ingestion decreased blood glucose (P < 0.05) and plasma
triglyceride concentrations (P < 0.01) compared with controls. Plum
treatment for 2 weeks reduced areas under the curve (AUCs) for glucose and
insulin during a glucose tolerance test. In db/db mice, plum decreased these
AUCs, and also blood glucose during an insulin tolerance test. Plum
treatment significantly increased plasma adiponectin concentrations and
PPARgamma mRNA expression in adipose tissue from Wistar fatty rats. Plum
thus may increase insulin sensitivity in these rats via adiponectin-related
mechanisms.
PMID: 16295695

[Unlike other IGF-1 boosters, dried plums do not increase precancerous
lesions in rats.]

Nutr Cancer. 2005;53(1):117-25.
Effect of dried plums on colon cancer risk factors in rats.
    Yang Y, Gallaher DD. Department of Food Science and Nutrition,
University of Minnesota, St. Paul 55108, USA.
    Dried plums (that is, prunes) are a fruit that show promise as a food to
lower colon cancer risk, based on their high content of dietary fiber and
polyphenolics. In this study, we have examined the effect of diets
containing dried plums on the number of colonic precancerous lesions
(aberrant crypts, ACs), fecal bile acid concentration, and cecal bacterial
enzyme activities related to colon cancer risk. Rats were fed one of four
diets: a basal diet (a modified AIN-93G diet), a low-concentration dried
plum diet (LCDP, 4.75% dried plum powder), a high-concentration dried plum
diet (HCDP, 9.5% dried plum powder), or a diet matched to the carbohydrate
content of the HCDP diet (CH-M) for 10 days. All animals were then
administered azoxymethane (15 mg/kg, s.c., given two times, 1 wk apart) and
fed their respective diets for 9 additional weeks. The number of AC foci
(ACF), large ACF (>3 AC/ACF), or ACF multiplicity (AC/ACF) did not differ
among the four groups. When compared with the basal diet, rats fed the LCDP
diet had significantly lower concentrations of total fecal bile acids,
deoxycholic acid, and hyodeoxycholic acid. Rats fed the HCDP diet had
significantly lower fecal concentrations of lithocholic acid and
hyodeoxycholic acid. The LCDP and HCDP diets significantly decreased the
cecal activity of 7alpha-dehydroxylase, and the LCDP also had lower
beta-glucuronidase activity. The LCDP, HCDP, and CH-M groups had
significantly greater cecal nitroreductase activities than the basal group.
There was a significant correlation between 7alpha-dehydroxylase activity
and fecal lithocholic acid concentration. Compared with the basal diet, both
the LCDP and HCDP diets greatly increased cecal supernatant oxygen radical
absorbance capacity (ORAC). These results suggest that, although dried plums
did not reduce ACF number, they favorably altered other colon cancer risk
factors.
PMID: 16351514

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