Gut microbiota plays a key role in host physiology and metabolism. Indeed, the relevance of a well-balanced gut microbiota composition to an individual´s health status is essential for the person's well-being. Currently, investigations are focused on analyzing the effects of pre-and probiotics as new therapeutic tools to counteract the disruption of intestinal bacterial balance occurring in several diseases. Polyphenols exert a wide range of beneficial health effects. However, although specific attention has been paid in recent years to the function of this "biological entity" in the metabolism of polyphenols, less is known about the modulatory capacity of these bioactive compounds on gut microbiota composition. This review provides an overview of the latest investigations carried out with pure polyphenols, extracts rich in polyphenols and polyphenol-rich dietary sources (such as cocoa, tea, wine, soy products and fruits), and critically discusses the consequences to gut microbiota composition which are produced.

SummaryExcessive weight gain arises from the interactions among environmental factors, genetic predisposition and the individual behavior. However, it is becoming evident that interindividual differences in obesity susceptibility depend also on epigenetic factors. Epigenetics studies the heritable changes in gene expression that do not involve changes to the underlying DNA sequence. These processes include DNA methylation, covalent histone modifications, chromatin folding and, more recently described, the regulatory action of miRNAs and polycomb group complexes. In this review, we focus on experimental evidences concerning dietary factors influencing obesity development by epigenetic mechanisms, reporting treatment doses and durations. Moreover, we present a bioinformatic analysis of promoter regions for the search of future epigenetic biomarkers of obesity, including methylation pattern analyses of several obesity-related genes (epiobesigenes), such as FGF2, PTEN, CDKN1A and ESR1, implicated in adipogenesis, SOCS1/ SOCS3, in inflammation, and COX7A1 LPL, CAV1, and IGFBP3, in intermediate metabolism and insulin signalling. The identification of those individuals that at an early age could present changes in the methylation profiles of specific genes could help to predict their susceptibility to later develop obesity, which may allow to prevent and follow-up its progress, as well as to research and develop newer therapeutic approaches.

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Single-gene disorders with "simple" Mendelian inheritance do not always imply that there will be an easy prediction of the phenotype from the genotype, which has been shown for a number of metabolic disorders. We propose that moonlighting enzymes (i.e., metabolic enzymes with additional functional activities) could contribute to the complexity of such disorders. The lack of knowledge about the additional functional activities of proteins could result in a lack of correlation between genotype and phenotype. In this review, we highlight some notable and recent examples of moonlighting enzymes and their possible contributions to human disease. Because knowledge and cataloging of the moonlighting activities of proteins are essential for the study of cellular function and human physiology, we also review recently reported and recommended methods for the discovery of moonlighting activities.

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Soy has been traditionally incorporated in diet as processed foods, such as soymilk, tofu, miso, tempeh, etc., and the consumption is commonly associated with a reduction of the development of chronic diseases due to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-allergic properties, among others. Many of the health benefits of soy have been attributed to isoflavones. They comprise a group of naturally occurring flavonoids consisting of heterocyclic phenols. Soy contains three types of isoflavones in four chemical forms: the aglycones daidzein, genistein, and glycitein; the β-glucosides daidzin, genistin, and glycitin; their 6″-O-malonyl-β-glucosides (6OMalGlc); and their 6″-O-acetyl-β-glucosides (6OAcGlc) conjugates. Industrial processing methods of soy-based food products commonly lead to the loss of isoflavones through removal of undesirable fractions. On the other hand, isoflavones can be transformed into different conjugates, which may have significant effects on the food texture and on the bioavailability and pharmacokinetics of the isoflavones. This article reviews the effect of a number of soybean processing treatments on the isoflavone content and profile. The preparation and manufacturing of different soy-based food and food ingredients, fermented and non-fermented, has been analyzed in terms of content and distribution of the three major isoflavone derivatives, daidzein, genistein, and glycitein, and their respective conjugates.