ArticleFrontiers in pharmacology2013
The effects of cocoa on the immune system.
Article in Frontiers in pharmacology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Effects of Cocoa-Derived Polyphenols on Cognitive Function in Humans. Systematic Review and Analysis of Methodological Aspects.Plant foods for human nutrition (Dordrecht, Netherlands) · 2020Pooled it
- Review
- Changes in the mucosal immunity induced by diets enriched with cocoa and hesperidin in intensively trained and exhausted rats.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Explorative Analysis of Antioxidant, Anti-Inflammatory, and Intestinal Barrier Protective Effects of In Vitro Digested Chickpea- and Dark Chocolate-Based Snack: Insights from Caco-2 and THP-1 Cell Models.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Dietary Phenolic Compounds: Their Health Benefits and Association with the Gut Microbiota.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Article
- Protective Effect of a Cocoa-Enriched Diet on Oxidative Stress Induced by Intensive Acute Exercise in Rats.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- A Cocoa Diet Can Partially Attenuate the Alterations in Microbiota and Mucosal Immunity Induced by a Single Session of Intensive Exercise in Rats.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
- Impact of Dietary Flavanols on Microbiota, Immunity and Inflammation in Metabolic Diseases.Nutrients · 2021Review
- Total Fat Content and Fatty Acid Profile of Fine-Aroma Cocoa From Northeastern Peru.Frontiers in nutrition · 2021Article
- Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Nociceptive Effects of Cocoa: A Review on Future Perspectives in Treatment of Pain.Pain and therapy · 2020Review
- Relationship between Cocoa Intake and Healthy Status: A Pilot Study in University Students.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Article
- Cocoa polyphenols and fiber modify colonic gene expression in rats.European journal of nutrition · 2017Article
- Article
- Gut Microbiota in a Rat Oral Sensitization Model: Effect of a Cocoa-Enriched Diet.Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2017Article
- Dark Chocolate Intake Acutely Enhances Neutrophil Count in Peripheral Venous Blood.Iranian journal of pathology · 2017Article
- Cocoa Diet and Antibody Immune Response in Preclinical Studies.Frontiers in nutrition · 2017Review
- Effect of Cocoa and Its Flavonoids on Biomarkers of Inflammation: Studies of Cell Culture, Animals and Humans.Nutrients · 2016Review
- Flavonoids Affect Host-Microbiota Crosstalk through TLR Modulation.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2014Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cocoa is a food relatively rich in polyphenols, which makes it a potent antioxidant. Due to its activity as an antioxidant, as well as through other mechanisms, cocoa consumption has been reported to be beneficial for cardiovascular health, brain functions, and cancer prevention. Furthermore, cocoa influences the immune system, in particular the inflammatory innate response and the systemic and intestinal adaptive immune response. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that a cocoa-enriched diet modifies T cell functions that conduce to a modulation of the synthesis of systemic and gut antibodies. In this regard, it seems that a cocoa diet in rats produces changes in the lymphocyte composition of secondary lymphoid tissues and the cytokines secreted by T cells. These results suggest that it is possible that cocoa could inhibit the function of T helper type 2 cells, and in line with this, the preventive effect of cocoa on IgE synthesis in a rat allergy model has been reported, which opens up new perspectives when considering the beneficial effects of cocoa compounds. On the other hand, cocoa intake modifies the functionality of gut-associated lymphoid tissue by means of modulating IgA secretion and intestinal microbiota. The mechanisms involved in these influences are discussed here. Further research may elucidate the cocoa compounds involved in such an effect and also the possible medical approaches to these repercussions.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.