Citrus flavonoids and the intestinal barrier: Interactions and effects

Abstract

The intestinal barrier plays a central role in sustaining gut homeostasis and, when dysfunctional, may contribute to diseases. Dietary flavonoids derived from Citrus genus represent one of the main naturally occurring phytochemicals with multiple potential benefits for the intestinal barrier function. In the intestine, citrus flavonoids (CFs) undergo ingestion from the lumen, biotransformation in the epithelial cells and/or crosstalk with luminal microbiota to afford various metabolites that may in turn exert protective actions on gut barrier along with their parental compounds. Specifically, the health‐promoting properties of CFs and their metabolic bioactives for the intestinal barrier include their capacity to (a) modulate barrier permeability; (b) protect mucus layer; (c) regulate intestinal immune system; (d) fight against oxidative stress; and (e) positively shape microbiome and metabolome. Notably, local effects of CFs can also generate systemic benefits, for instance, improvement of gut microbial dysbiosis helpful to orchestrate gut homeostasis and leading to alleviation of systemic dysmetabolism. Given the important role of the intestinal barrier in overall health, further understanding of underlying action mechanisms and ultimate health effects of CFs as well as their metabolites on the intestine is of great significance to future application of citrus plants and their bioactives as dietary supplements and/or functional ingredients in medical foods.

Polymethoxyflavones in Citrus Regulate Lipopolysaccharide‐Induced Oscillating Decay of Circadian Rhythm Genes by Inhibiting Nlrp3 Expression

“…Neohesperidin was the main flavanone in ZJOG, MWG, and JWPTY; hesperidin was the main flavanone in FJ, DETC, and YL; and naringin was the main flavanone in MBWD. The PMF content of ZJOG (39.94 mg/g FW) and FJ (57.75 mg/g FW) was significantly higher than that of other citrus varieties, while MBWD contained almost no PMFs (0.36 mg/g FW), which was also consist with previous reports [ 18 – 21 ].…”

Pure Total Flavonoids From Citrus Protect Against Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug-Induced Small Intestine Injury by Promoting Autophagy in vivo and in vitro

“…In the current study, the PTFC contained narirutin, naringin, neohesperidin, and hesperidin, with a total flavonoid content of 76.22%. In recent years, underlying beneficial characteristics of PTFC and their metabolites have been investigated, including optimization of barrier permeability, positive balance of gut microbiota, and immunomodulation, as well as inhibition of oxidative stress and inflammation in gut, hepatoprotective and pro-cardiovascular activities (Vazhappilly et al, 2019;Shi et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2021). Evidence pointed to the healthpromoting properties of hesperidin and narirutin, the most abundant citrus flavanones in citrus genus, on the intestinal barrier and human health (Shen et al, 2019;Guirro et al, 2020).…”

Obesity mechanisms and importance of bioactive compounds from fruits in its regulation – a narrative review

“…They are sources of anthocyanins (cyanidin and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside) and rich in flavonoids, such as flavanones (7-Oglucosylflavanone, hesperidin, naringin, hesperetin, and naringenin), flavones (polymethoxyflavone, apigenin, and luteolin), and flavonols (rutin, quercetin, dihydrokaempferol-7-O-rutinoside, and dihydroquercetin-7-O-rutinoside) (Wang et al, 2020).…”