**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** BERRIES POSSESS VARIOUS HEALTH-ENHANCING PROPERTIES, PRIMARILY ATTRIBUTED TO THE POTENT ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY PROPERTIES OF POLYPHENOLS THEREIN. ANTHOCYANINS (ANCS), MAJOR POLYPHENOLS IN BERRIES, ARE MAINLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF BERRIES AGAINST OBESITY-INDUCED INFLAMMATION. AS BERRY ANCS ARE EXTENSIVELY BIOTRANSFORMED BY THE GUT MICROBIOTA, INDIVIDUALS WITH A DIFFERENT GUT MICROBIOME COMPOSITION, SUCH AS LEAN VS. OBESE, MAY PRODUCE DISTINCT ANC METABOLITES. IMPORTANTLY, A SIGNIFICANT GAP IN OUR KNOWLEDGE EXISTS AS TO HOW BERRIES PREVENT CHRONIC INFLAMMATION IN OBESITY AND WHETHER THE MODULATION OF THE GUT MICROBIOME PLAYS A ROLE. MOST STUDIES IN THE LITERATURE MERELY MEASURE KNOWN BIOMARKERS OF INFLAMMATION AND INFLAMMATORY PATHWAYS TO EXPLAIN THE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECTS OF BERRIES. HOWEVER, EMERGING EVIDENCE, INCLUDING OURS, EMPHASIZES THAT MONOCYTES IN THE CIRCULATION AND THE SPLEEN ARE LIKELY CRITICAL MODULATORS OF THE INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE.WE PUT FORTH THE HYPOTHESIS THAT LEAN AND OBESE MICE PRODUCE DISTINCT BLACKCURRANT ANC METABOLITES DUE TO THEIR DIFFERENCES IN GUT MICROBIOTA. THE GUT-DERIVED BLACKCURRANT ANC METABOLITES EXERT ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECTS BY MODULATING THE NUMBER AND THE PHENOTYPES OF SPLENIC AND CIRCULATING MONOCYTES. TO TEST THIS HYPOTHESIS, WE WILL DETERMINE THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE GUT MICROBIOTA TO THE PREVENTIVE ROLES OF BLACKCURRANT AGAINST OBESITY-ASSOCIATED METABOLIC DYSFUNCTIONS AND INFLAMMATION; AND EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF BLACKCURRANT ANC METABOLITES ON THE MODULATION OF CIRCULATING AND SPLENIC MONOCYTE NUMBER AND PHENOTYPES AS RELATED TO INFLAMMATION.