Metabolomics reveals diet-derived plant polyphenols accumulate in physiological bone

Abstract

Plant-derived secondary metabolites consumed in the diet, especially polyphenolic compounds, are known to have a range of positive health effects. They are present in circulation after ingestion and absorption and can be sequestered into cells within particular organs, but have rarely been investigated systematically in osteological tissues. However, a small number of polyphenols and similar molecules are known to bind to bone. For example alizarin, a plant derived anthraquinone and tetracycline (a naturally occurring antibiotic), are both absorbed into bone from circulation during bone formation and are used to monitor mineralization in osteological studies. Both molecules have also been identified serendipitously in archaeological human bones derived from natural sources in the diet. Whether an analogous mechanism of sequestration extends to additional diet-derived plant-polyphenols has not previously been systematically studied. We investigated whether a range of diet-derived polyphenol-like compounds bind to bone using untargeted metabolomics applied to the analysis of bone extracts from pigs fed an acorn-based diet. We analysed the diet which was rich in ellagitannins, extracts from the pig bones and surrounding tissue, post-mortem. We found direct evidence of multiple polyphenolic compounds in these extracts and matched them to the diet. We also showed that these compounds were present in the bone but not surrounding tissues. We also provide data showing that a range of polyphenolic compounds bind to hydroxyapatite in vitro . The evidence for polyphenol sequestration into physiological bone, and the range and specificity of polyphenols in human and animal diets, raises intriguing questions about potential effects on bone formation and bone health. Further studies are needed to determine the stability of the sequestered molecules post-mortem but there is also potential for (palaeo)dietary reconstruction and forensic applications.

ddhCTP produced by the radical‐SAM activity of RSAD2 (viperin) inhibits the NAD+‐dependent activity of enzymes to modulate metabolism

“…The extra‐ and intracellular metabolite levels were analysed using untargeted metabolite analysis by high‐resolution negative ion mass spectrometry (LC‐MS/MS). Measurements and data analysis were performed using a Q Exactive hybride quadrupole‐Orbitrap mass spectrometer equiped with a heated electrospray ionization II probe in negative ion mode as explained in details previously [24]. Briefly, samples were analysed using Dionex ICS‐5000+ capillary HPIC (Thermo Scientific, San Jose, CA, USA) (IC‐MS/MS) or Dionex Ultimate 3000 UPLC system (HILIC‐MS/MS) coupled to the Q Exactive mass spectrometer (Thermo Scientific).…”

Wine Intake in the Framework of a Mediterranean Diet and Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases: A Short Literature Review of the Last 5 Years

“…Therefore, others intrinsic factors such as age, gender and genetic differences, enzyme activity, transporters, intestinal microflora, health status, among others may influence [36,100,101]. So not all polyphenols are absorbed with equal efficacy, only between 5 to 10% of the total polyphenol intake may be directly absorbed in the small intestine [102,103].…”

Fodder for Change: Animals, Urbanisation, and Socio-Economic Transformation in Protohistoric Italy

“…Extensive pig management is attested in historical sources (Dionysius Halicarnassensis, Antiquitates Romanae 3.70; Polybius 2.15; Strabo 5.1.12), and it was common in the Mediterranean until recently (Albarella et al 2011;Halstead and Isaakidou 2011;Wealleans 2013). Recent analysis of suid bones from the Archaic town of Forcello in the Po Plain has demonstrated that the pigs consumed acorns and were herbivorous, strongly suggesting off-site management in the local woodland (see Alldritt et al 2019;McCullagh, Hedges, et al in prep.). Similarly, stable isotopes from Roman pig bones indicate that pigs in Imperial Italy were also generally herbivorous, similar to sheep and cattle, rather than omnivorous like dogs or humans (see Trentacoste et al 2020).…”