“…The antioxidant capacity of rooibos also links closely to an anti-inflammatory outcome. In this context, data from in vitro models of inflammation associate rooibos administration with improved tight junction protein expression and interaction status to maintain endothelial cellular structure and barrier integrity ( Ku et al, 2015 ; Lee and Bae, 2015 ; Pretorius and Smith, 2022 ), modulation of PGE2 synthesis ( Hedbrant et al, 2022 ), inhibition of basophil activation ( Pedretti and Peter, 2020 ) and an inhibitory effect on concentrations of pro-inflammatory mediators–such as IL-1α, IL-6, IL-8, VCAM-1 and ATF4 gene expression ( Lawal et al, 2019b ), as well as IFN-γ, IL-12, IL-2, IL-17a, TNF-α, IL-8, IL-6, IL-1β and CXCL10 ( Nehme et al, 2023 )–and increased anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10 ( Ichiyama et al, 2007 ). In addition, the flavonoid actives aspalathin and nothofagin were reported to prevent the expression of cell adhesion molecules and transendothelial migration of neutrophils in LPS- and high glucose-exposed cells ( Ku et al, 2015 ; Lee and Bae, 2015 ), while other rooibos constituents quercetin, luteolin and chrysoeriol reportedly inhibited antigen- and calcium ionophore-stimulated degranulation in basophils ( Morishita et al, 2019 ).…”