Typical respiratory infections are short-lived, with the average rhinovirus infection lasting approximately 72 hours.

Lingering Symptoms:

However, symptoms of inflammation such as runny nose, mucus production, cough, and shortness of breath can persist long after, reducing productivity and limiting quality of life. Because macrophages are so sensitive to the environment, which often carries additional stressors such as dust, pollution, and allergens, some macrophages may not seamlessly progress through all the activation states to resolution of inflammation, leading to continued inflammation and symptoms of healing.

The immune system may require additional anti-inflammatory cues from diet, and macrophages may need additional prompting from bioactive molecules to progress through activation states until the immune system has calmed to its normal baseline level of alertness and activity.

The smaller the air pollutant the more dangerous it is to human health. High levels of particulate matter smaller than approximately 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) are associated with poor health outcomes and many of the leading causes of death. At this microscopic size they are small enough to infiltrate deep into our lung tissue and enter our bloodstream. In our lungs they can cause ongoing inappropriate inflammation, with this chronic long-term inflammation causing scarring and making breathing more difficult. Once in our bloodstream, PM2.5 can cause further inflammation and promote plaque formation – thereby increasing blood pressure and increasing risk of stroke.

Why do we care? The World Health Organisation estimates that 99% of the global population breathes air containing levels of pollutants exceeding healthy limits, with at least 80% of the global population living in high pollution environments. Air pollution is one of the leading risk factors for death, attributing to 11.65% of deaths globally.

BerriQi contains high concentrations of bioactive polyphenols and anthocyanins which have broad antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, as well as more specific effects on alveolar macrophages that leads to reduced mucus production and reduced collagen in the interstitial space where gasses are exchanged.

Anthocyanins are a class of polyphenols known for their distinctive colour that range from purple to pink to red.

Berries produce anthocyanins in the final stages of ripening. Berries grown in New Zealand produce nearly 30% more anthocyanins due to increased UV intensity. Over 600 distinct structures of anthocyanins have been identified and characterised.

While all anthocyanins are potent bioactives, not all structures of anthocyanins have the same type of bioactivity. The specific type of anthocyanin that Boysenberries produce have the unique ability to bind to a receptor in macrophages that triggers a signalling cascade altering the activity of the macrophage.