Abstract
This double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study investigated the effect of blackcurrant anthocyanin (BCA) intake on peripheral circulation during rest and during typing work by using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), and it also assessed improvement in shoulder stiffness caused by poor local circulation. In a resting circulation study, nine healthy male subjects took capsules of BCA at a dosage of 17 mg kg−1 or placebo (isoenergetic sugar). NIRS was used to measure left forearm blood flow (FBF) following venous occlusion and muscle oxygen consumption following arterial occlusion prior to and hourly for 4 h after ingestion of BCA. Plasma anthocyanin concentration was measured prior to ingestion and 1, 2, and 4 h later. FBF increased significantly 2 h after BCA ingestion [BCA 1.22 (0.13)-fold increase relative to pre-values vs placebo 0.83 (0.06) of pre-values; P<0.05] and then tended to increase for a further 3 h after ingestion [BCA 1.26 (0.15)-fold increase relative to pre-values vs placebo 0.82 (0.07) of pre-values; P=0.078]. There was, however, no significant difference in muscle oxygen consumption between BCA and placebo intake at any time point. In a typing work study, 11 healthy subjects took capsules of BCA (7.7 mg kg−1) or placebo (isoenergetic sugar) daily for 2 weeks. The subjects then performed intermittent typing workload for 30 min in order to induce acute shoulder stiffness. During the workload, total hemoglobin and oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) were determined using NIRS and myoelectric signals measured in the right trapezius muscle using electromyography (EMG). The viscoelasticity of the trapezius muscle was also evaluated using a muscle stiffness meter before and after the typing workload. BCA intake prevented the decrease in oxy-Hb significantly (P<0.05), and also tended to alleviate the increase in root mean square (RMS) of the EMG during the typing workload, and also muscle stiffness after the workload. There was no improvement in typing performance with BCA intake. The results of this study suggest that intake of BCA may improve shoulder stiffness caused by typing work by increasing peripheral blood flow and reducing muscle fatigue.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chance B, Maris M, Sorge J, Zhang MZ (1990) A phase modulation system for dual wavelength difference spectroscopy of hemoglobin deoxygenation in tissues. Proc Soc Photo-Opt Instrum Eng 1204:481–491
De Blasi RA, Ferrari M, Natali A, Conti G, Mega A, Gasparetto A (1994) Noninvasive measurement of forearm blood flow and oxygen consumption by near-infrared spectroscopy. J Appl Physiol 76:1388–1393
Duffy SJ, O’Brien RC, New G, Harper RW, Meredith IT (2001) Effect of anti-oxidant treatment and cholesterol lowering on resting arterial tone, metabolic vasodilation and endothelial function in the human forearm: a randomized, placebo-controlled study. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol 28(5–6):409–418
Edwards AM, Blackburn L, Christie S, Townsend S, David J (2000) Food supplement in the treatment of primary fibromyalgia: a double-blind, crossover trial of anthocyanidins and placebo. J Nutr Environ Med 10:189–199
Ferrari M, Binzoni T Quaresima V (1997) Oxidative metabolism in muscle. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 352(1354):677–683
Gonzalez-Alonso J, Calbet JA, Nielsen B (1999) Metabolic and thermodynamic responses to dehydration-induced reductions in muscle blood flow in exercising humans. J Physiol (Lond) 520(2):577–589
Hamaoka T, Iwane H, Shimomitsu T, Katsumura T, Murase N, Nishio S, Osada T, Kurosawa Y, Chance B (1996) Noninvasive measurement of oxidative metabolism on working human muscle by near infrared spectroscopy. J Appl Physiol 80(4):1410–1417
Hampson NB, Piantadosi CA (1988) Near infrared monitoring of human skeletal muscle oxygenation during forearm ischemia. J Appl Physiol 64:2449–2457
Homma S, Eda H, Ogasawara S, Kagaya A (1996) Near-infrared estimation of O2 supply and consumption in forearm muscles working at varying intensity. J Appl Physiol 80:1279–1284
Jobsis FF (1977) Noninvasive, infrared monitoring of cerebral and myocardial oxygen sufficiency and circulatory parameters. Science 198(4323):1264–1267
Kirshner B, Guyatt GH (1985) A methodological framework for assessing health indices. J Chronic Dis 38:27–36
Larsson SE, Cai H, Oberg PA (1993) Microcirculation in the upper trapezius muscle during varying levels of static contraction, fatigue and recovery in healthy women—a study using percutaneous laser-Doppler flowometry and surface electromyography. Eur J Appl Physiol 66(6):483–488
Larsson R, Oberg PA, Larsson SE (1999) Changes of trapezius muscle blood flow and electromyography in chronic neck pain due to trapezius myalgia. Pain 79(1):45–50
Martin S, Andriambeloson E, Takeda K, Andriantsitohaina R (2002) Red wine polyphenols increase calcium in bovine aortic endothelial cells: a basis to elucidate signaling pathways leading to nitric oxide production. Br J Pharmacol 135:1579–1587
Matsumoto H, Inaba H, Kishi M, Tominaga S, Hirayama M, Tsuda T (2001a) Orally administered delphinidin 3-rutinoside and cyanidin 3-rutinoside are directly absorbed in rats and humans and appear in the blood as the intact forms. J Agric Food Chem 49(3):1546–1551
Matsumoto H, Hanamura S, Kishi M, Kawakami T, Sato U, Hirayama M (2001b) A preparative-scale isolation of four anthocyanin components in blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum L.) fruits. J Agric Food Chem 49(3):1541–1545
Matsumoto H, Nakamura Y, Hirayama M, Yoshiki Y, Okubo K (2002) Antioxidant activity of blackcurrant anthocyanin aglycones and their glycosides measured by chemiluminescence in neutral pH regions including in human plasma. J Agric Food Chem 50(18):5034–5037
Matsumoto T (1994) Disorder, diagnosis and therapy of stiffness shoulder. J JSAM 44:366–372
Millet J, Chicaud P, Legendre C, Fontaine M (1984) Improvement of blood filterability in the cynomologus monkey given a fat diet and treated with a purified extract of blackcurrant anthocyanocides. J Pharmacol 15:439–445
Morazzoni P, Bombardelli E (1996) Vaccinium myrtillus L. Fitoterapia 673–29
Nagai K, Jiang MH, Hada J, Nagata T, Yajima Y, Yamamoto S, Nishizaki T (2002) (−)-Epigallocatechin gallate protects against NO stress-induced neuronal damage after ischemia by acting as an anti-oxidant, Brain Res 956(2):319–322
Nakaishi H, Matsumoto H, Tominaga S, Hirayama M (2000) Effects of blackcurrant anthocyanosides intake on dark adaptation and VDT work-induced transient refractive alternation in healthy humans. Altern Med Rev 5(6):553–562
Nakamura Y, Matsumoto H, Todoki K (2002) Endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation induced by black currant concentrate in rat thoracic aorta. Jpn J Pharmacol 89:29–35
Okubo M, Shimomitsu T, Hamaoka T, Ezaki K, Kime R, Fujimaru Y, Otsuki T, Sakamoto A, Katsumura T (2000) Measurement of blood volume in musculus trapezius by near infrared spectroscopy (in Japanese). Ther Res 21(6):1511–1515
Passamonti S, Vrhovsek U, Vanzo A, Mattivi F (2003) The stomach as a site for anthocyanins absorption from food. FEBS Lett 544(1–3):210–213
Renaud S, de Logeril M (1992) Wine, alcohol, platelets and the French paradox for coronary heart disease. Lancet 339:1523–1526
Takenami E, Kurashide (Iwasaki) K, Matsumoto H, Nagasawa T, Ueda C, Kitahara A, Osada T, Katsumura T, Hamaoka T (2003) Effects of blackcurrant anthocyanins intake on peripheral circulation during typing workload in human (in Japanese). J Jpn Coll Angiol 43:331–334
Taylor AD, Bronks R (1996) Effect of acute normobaric hypoxia on quadriceps integrated electromyogram and blood metabolites during incremental exercise to exhaustion. Eur J Appl Physiol 73(1–2):121–129
Yano T, Arima Y, Imoto T (1998) The development of “Digital Palpometer” dual measurement type of pressure pain threshold and muscle hardness. J Jpn Assoc Manual Ther 9(1):33–40
Yoshitake Y, Ue H, Miyazaki M, Moritani T (2001) Assessment of lower-back muscle fatigue using electromyography, mechanomyography, and near-infrared spectroscopy. Eur J Appl Physiol 84:174–179
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Matsumoto, H., Takenami, E., Iwasaki-Kurashige, K. et al. Effects of blackcurrant anthocyanin intake on peripheral muscle circulation during typing work in humans. Eur J Appl Physiol 94, 36–45 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-004-1279-y
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-004-1279-y