Recent Advances in Research on Polyphenols: Effects on Microbiota, Metabolism, and Health

Abstract

This paper is dedicated to the memory of our dear colleague Carolina Rojas-Garbanzo who passed away prior to the submission of this manuscript.Polyphenols have attracted huge interest among researchers of various disciplines because of their numerous biological activities, such as antioxidative, antiinflammatory, antiapoptotic, cancer chemopreventive, anticarcinogenic, and antimicrobial properties, and their promising applications in many fields, mainly in the medical, cosmetics, dietary supplement and food industries. In this review, the latest scientific findings in the research on polyphenols interaction with the microbiome and mitochondria, their metabolism and health beneficial effects, their involvement in cognitive diseases and obesity development, as well as some innovations in their analysis, extraction methods, development of cosmetic formulations and functional food are summarized based on the papers presented at the 13th World Congress on Polyphenol Applications. Future implications of polyphenols in disease prevention and their strategic use as prophylactic measures are specifically addressed. Polyphenols may play a key role in our tomorrow´s food and nutrition to prevent many diseases.

The Nutrition-Microbiota-Physical Activity Triad: An Inspiring New Concept for Health and Sports Performance

“…Polyphenols can be subclassified into four main groups: flavonoids (including eight subgroups), phenolic acids (e.g., curcumin), stilbenoids (e.g., resveratrol), and lignans [ 84 ]. They promote health by limiting oxidative stress [ 85 ]. Common polyphenol-rich food types include fruits, seeds, vegetables, tea, cocoa products, and wine.…”

“…Moreover, it has been reported that the abundance of pathogenic Clostridium species ( C. perfringens and C. histolyticum ) is reduced after regular consumption of fruit, seed, wine, and tea polyphenols [ 74 ]. In a recent review, Rajha et al showed that polyphenol metabolites interact with gut microbiota and mitochondria to fight many diseases, such as obesity, depression, inflammation and allergy [ 85 ].…”

Microbiota medicine: towards clinical revolution

“…Indeed, the gut microbial metabolites are intimately linked with the host health and diseases. Emerging metabolite-centered research has focused on identifying different actionable microbial targets, whether intermediate metabolites or by-products, that are relevant in many host diseases such as metabolic syndrome [ 89 ], obesity [ 90 ], diabetes [ 90 , 91 ], cardiovascular morbidities [ 92 , 93 ], and even cancer [ 94 – 96 ].…”

“…Most of the metabolites, analyzed in literature, presented a double effect being either promoters or suppressors of carcinogenesis. However, the only metabolites that have been purely considered as anti-carcinogenic are short-chain fatty acids [ 101 ] and polyphenols metabolites [ 96 , 102 ].…”

“…The gut microbiota modulation with dietary interventions, probiotics or antibiotics may create new preventive and therapeutic options in neurodegenerative diseases [ 146 ]. Indeed, we already shown that dietary polyphenols and other probiotics can be used as novel therapeutic drugs in the treatment of depression and other neurological problems [ 96 , 147 ]. Actually, these symbiotics were shown to be able to attenuate the neuroinflammation by decreasing the activity of the inflammasomes mentioned previously [ 145 ].…”