** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** HYPERTENSION (HTN), OR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, IS PREVALENT IN AN ESTIMATED 45% OF ADULTS IN THE UNITED STATES AND IS THE MAJOR MODIFIABLE RISK FACTOR FOR HEART DISEASE WHICH IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH WORLDWIDE. HTN ALSO REPRESENTS AN ECONOMIC BURDEN AS THE US HEALTH CARE SYSTEM SPENT AN ESTIMATED $79 BILLION IN 2016 ON PATIENTS WITH HTN AND INDIVIDUALS USING MULTIPLE ANTIHYPERTENSIVE MEDICATIONS PAY, ON AVERAGE, $436 ANNUALLY FOR MEDICATIONS ALONE. THUS, IDENTIFYING EARLY TARGETS AND ALTERNATIVE THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES TO PREVENT OR DELAY THE ONSET OF HTN IS IMPORTANT TO REDUCE THE POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OF MORE SERIOUS CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE OUTCOMES AND IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE. RECENT STUDIES HAVE DEMONSTRATED AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN INTESTINAL BARRIER DYSFUNCTION AND HTN. THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE THE INTESTINAL BARRIER IS CRITICAL IN PREVENTING THE ENTRY OF TOXIC COMPOUNDS THAT ARE DETRIMENTAL TO HEALTH. IT IS LARGELY UNKNOWN, HOWEVER, WHETHER PRESERVING INTESTINAL BARRIER FUNCTIONPROTECTS AGAINST THE RISE IN BLOOD PRESSURE. THEREFORE, THERE IS A NEED TO INVESTIGATE THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTESTINAL BARRIER DYSFUNCTION, HTN, AND THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES TO PREVENT THEM. POLYPHENOLS ARE FOUND NATURALLY IN A WIDE DISTRIBUTION OF PLANT FOODS AND ARE KNOWN TO HAVE BOTH HEART- AND INTESTINAL-PROTECTIVE EFFECTS. BLACKBERRIES, RASPBERRIES, BLUEBERRIES, AND STRAWBERRIES ARE COMMONLY CONSUMED BERRIES THAT HAVE UNIQUE POLYPHENOLIC PROFILES; THEREFORE, INCLUDING MIXED BERRIES IN THE DIET WILL NOT ONLY EXPAND THE BREADTH OF POLYPHENOLS OBTAINED, BUT IT MAY ALSO HELP TO IMPROVE HEALTH.THE MAIN GOAL OF OUR PROJECT IS TO USE A PRECLINICAL RAT MODEL TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER A BERRY-RICH DIET IS EFFECTIVE IN PRESERVING THE INTESTINAL BARRIER AND WHETHER THIS PRESERVATION CONTRIBUTES TO PREVENTING THE ONSET OF HTN. TO ACHIEVE THIS, RATS WILL BE FED A DIET WITH OR WITHOUT BERRIES AND IMPLANTED WITH ANGIOTENSIN II TO INDUCE HTN. MARKERS OF INTESTINAL BARRIER FUNCTION AND BLOOD PRESSURE WILL BE MEASURED OVER TIME. WE ALSO AIM TO DETERMINE THE MECHANISMS BY WHICH BERRIES EXERT THEIR BENEFICIAL EFFECTS USING CELL CULTURE STUDIES AND MEASURING PROTEIN EXPRESSION OF MARKERS RELATED TO INTESTINAL INTEGRITY, INFLAMMATION, AND OXIDATIVE STRESS. RESULTS WILL BE SHARED VIA PRESENTATIONS AT LOCAL AND NATIONAL CONFERENCES AND COMMUNITY SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, AS WELL AS VIA PUBLICATIONS IN PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS. ALTOGETHER, THESE EXPERIMENTS WILL IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTESTINAL BARRIER FUNCTION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF HTN WHICH WILL PROVIDE SCIENTISTS, PHYSICIANS, AND DIETITIANS A NOVEL, EARLY TARGET TO PREVENT HTN. IT WILL ALSO INFORM THE GREATER POPULATION ON SAFE, ALTERNATIVE METHODS FOR PREVENTING AND MANAGING HTN BY PROVIDING INSIGHT ON HOW DIETS RICH IN BERRIES CAN IMPROVE HEART AND INTESTINAL HEALTH.