Effect of processing on the anti-inflammatory efficacy of cocoa in a high fat diet-induced mouse model of obesity

Obesity causes inflammation which may lead to development of co-morbidities like cardiovascular diseases. Cocoa is a popular food ingredient that has been shown to mitigate obesity and inflammation in preclinical models. Cocoa typically undergoes fermentation and roasting prior to consumption, which can affect the polyphenol content in cocoa. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of fermentation and roasting protocols on the ability of cocoa to mitigate obesity, gut barrier dysfunction, and chronic inflammation in high fat (HF)-fed, obese C57BL/6J mice. We found that treatment of mice with 80 mg/g dietary cocoa powder for 8 weeks reduced rate of body weight gain in both male and female mice (46–57%), regardless of fermentation and roasting protocol. Colonic length was increased (11–24%) and gut permeability was reduced (48–79%) by cocoa supplementation. Analysis of the cecal microbiome showed that cocoa, regardless of fermentation and roasting protocol, reduced the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes. Multivariate statistical analysis of markers of inflammation and body weight data showed sex differences in the effect of both the HF diet as well as cocoa supplementation. Based on this data there was strong protective efficacy from cocoa supplementation especially for the more processed cocoa samples. Overall, this study shows that anti-obesity and anti-inflammatory efficacy of cocoa is resilient to changes in polyphenol content and composition induced by fermentation or roasting. Further, this study shows that although cocoa has beneficial effects in both males and females, there are significant sex differences.

© This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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Work Title Effect of processing on the anti-inflammatory efficacy of cocoa in a high fat diet-induced mouse model of obesity
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. D. K. Weikart
  2. V. V. Indukuri
  3. K. C. Racine
  4. K. M. Coleman
  5. Jasna Kovac
  6. Darrell Cockburn
  7. Helene Hopfer
  8. A. P. Neilson
  9. Joshua D. Lambert
Keyword
  1. Cocoa
  2. Sex differences
  3. Roasting
  4. Fermentation
  5. Obesity
  6. Inflammation
License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry
Publication Date August 5, 2022
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnutbio.2022.109117
Deposited February 17, 2023

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Version 1
published

  • Created
  • Added JNB_weikart_v2.docx
  • Added Creator D. K. Weikart
  • Added Creator V. V. Indukuri
  • Added Creator K. C. Racine
  • Added Creator K. M. Coleman
  • Added Creator Jasna Kovac
  • Added Creator Darrell Cockburn
  • Added Creator Helene Hopfer
  • Added Creator A. P. Neilson
  • Added Creator Joshua D. Lambert
  • Published
  • Updated Keyword, Publisher, Publication Date Show Changes
    Keyword
    • Cocoa, Sex differences, Roasting, Fermentation, Obesity, Inflammation
    Publisher
    • Nutrition Reports International
    • The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry
    Publication Date
    • 2022-01-01
    • 2022-08-05
  • Updated