OBESITY IS A GROWING PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERN AND CAUSES SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION WHICH COULD LEAD TO INFLAMMATORY DISEASES SUCH AS CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES. DIET AND DIETARY COMPONENTS COULD PLAY A ROLE IN REDUCING INFLAMMATION. ONE SUCH FOOD, IS COCOA. COCOA HAS BEEN SHOWN TO HAVE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECTS AND ANTI-OBESITY EFFECTS IN PREVIOUS STUDIES. THESE EFFECTS HAVE BEEN BELIEVED TO BE ATTRIBUTED TO POYPHENOLS (A TYPE OF ANTIOXIDANT) IN COCOA. HOWEVER, THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF POLYPHENOLS IN COCOA, MANY OF WHICH ARE NOT READILY ABSORBED BUT STILL MAY HAVE HEALTH BENEFITS THROUGH INTERACTION WITH MICROBES IN THE GUT. TO PINPOINT A POTENTIAL MECHANISM FOR THE ANTI-INFLAMAMTORY EFFECT OF COCOA IN OBESITY AND UNDERSTAND THE ROLE INTERACTION WITH GUT MICROBIOTA PLAY, WE WILL USE MODELS OF OBESITY TO EXAMINE THIS. THE FIRST MODEL WILL BE IN MICE WITH HIGH- FAT DIET INDUCED OBESITY. THIS MODEL IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE STANDARD AMERICAN DIET AND OBESITY IN INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES. AFTER MAKING MICE OBESE, WE WILL CONTRINUE THE HIGH-FAT DIET BUT SUPPLEMENT WITH DIFFERENT COCOA POLYPHENOL FRACTIONS, SOME OF WHICH ARE EASILY ABSORBED AND FRACTIONS THAT ARE NOT ABSORBED AND CAN INTERACT WITH MICROBIOTA. AT THE END OF THIS STUDY WE WILL LOOK AT INFLAMMATORY EFFECTS FROM THESE FRACTIONS AND COMPARE IT WITH HIGH-FAT DIET ALONE BY LOOKING AT PROTEINS RELEASED AS AN INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE CALLED CYTOKINES AND CHEMOKINES. WE WILL ALSO LOOK AT THE FUNCTION OF THE GUT (HOW WELL DOES THE GUT KEEP COMPOUNDS OUT OF THE BLOOD STREAM) AND BLOOD LEVELS OF LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDES WHICH ARE CHEMICALS THAT ARE SECRETED BY MICROBIOTA IN THE GUT BUT CAUSE INFLAMMATION WHEN HIGH AMOUNTS ARE IN THE BLOODSTREAM. WE WILL THEN EXAMINE THE ROLE OF GUT MICROBIOTA BY LOOKING AT WHAT TYPES OF BACTERIA ARE IN THE GUT AND QUANTIFY THE AMOUNT OF BENEFICIAL CHEMICALS THEY ARE SECRETED CALLED SHORT CHAIN FATTY ACIDS AND LOOKING AT CHANGES THEY ARE MAKING TO POLYPHENOL STRUCTURES IN THE GUT. FINALLY, WE WILL LOOK AT THE EFFECTS OF COCOA POLYPHENOL FRACTIONS ON GUT MICROBIOTA BY MIMICING THE HUMAN COLON AND USING HUMAN FECAL SAMPLES TO BETTER MIMIC THE HUMAN MICROBIOTA. WE WILL COLLECT FECAL SAMPLES FROM OBESE INDIVIDUALS AND LEAN INDIVIDUALS AND EXAMINE CHANGES BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS IN THE TYPE OF MICROBES PRESENT AND AMOUND OF SHORT CHAIN FATTY ACIDS AND CHANGES TO POLYPHENOL STRUCTURE BY THE MICROBIOTA. WE WILL MEASURE THESE IN ALL INDIVIDUALS AT BASELINE AND AT VARIOUS TIMEPOINTS THROUGHOUT 48 HOURS TO GET AN IDEA OF CHANGES THAT OCCUR IN THE COLON. ALL THESE RESULTS WILL BE USED TO PINPOINT A MECHANISM FOR THE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF COCOA, HELP UNDERSTAND THE ROLE GUT MICROBIOTA PLAY IN INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE, AND MITIGATE INFLAMMATION FROM OBESITY WHICH COULD DECREASE RISK OF INFLAMMATORY DISEASES. WE WILL PRESENT THESE RESULTS THROUGH SEMINARS AND NATIONAL CONFERENCES TO OTHER SCIENTISTS IN BIOMEDICAL, AGRICULTURAL, NUTRITION, OR FOOD SCIENCE RESEARCH AS WELL AS SUBMIT THESE RESULTS TO PEER-REVIEWED SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. WE WILL ALSO PRESENT THESE TO INDUCTRY PERSONNEL, MANY OF WHICH WORK WITH COCOA POROCESSING, TO PROVIDE CLARITY ON THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESERVING THESE COMPOUNDS DURING PROCESSING OF COCOA PRODUCTS.