Effects of Grape and Grape-Derived Bioactives on Inflammation and Immune-Driven Mechanisms Within the Context of Cardiometabolic Health and Aging: A Review

Cardiometabolic disease and age-related health complications are significant clinical and public health concerns that impact an individual’s overall quality of life and longevity. Chronic low-grade and immune-mediated inflammation underlies the pathophysiology of metabolic and systemic tissue dysfunction associated with cardiometabolic disease development and accelerated aging, whereas therapeutic and preventative strategies to reduce inflammation and promote immune function yield beneficial health outcomes. Evidence from cell and animal studies demonstrates that consumption of grapes, grape-based extracts and preparations, and grape-derived bioactive compounds exert beneficial anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects, which are associated with improvements in metabolic profiles. However, results from human intervention trials investigating grape effects on inflammatory and immune markers are more limited and report varied effects on improvements in clinical and experimental biomarkers indicative of cardiometabolic disease risk and healthy aging, such as serum lipids, blood pressure, insulin resistance, oxidative stress, gut dysbiosis, and cognitive function. Variability in responses to grape products in human trials may be attributable to differences in grape product preparation in addition to variability in the health status of the study population. In this review, we present an overview of mechanistic studies evaluating the effects of grapes and grape-derived products on inflammatory and immune pathways within the context of cardiometabolic disease and aging, and provide an update on recent intervention trials in this area.