High Concentrations of a Urinary Biomarker of Polyphenol Intake Are Associated with Decreased Mortality in Older Adults

Abstract

Polyphenols might have a role in the prevention of several chronic diseases, but evaluating total dietary polyphenol (TDP) intake from self-reported questionnaires is inaccurate and unreliable. A promising alternative is to use total urinary polyphenol (TUP) concentration as a proxy measure of intake. The current study evaluated the relationship between TUPs and TDPs and all-cause mortality during a 12-y period among older adult participants. The study population included 807 men and women aged 65 y and older from the Invecchiare in Chianti study, a population-based cohort study of older adults living in the Chianti region of Tuscany, Italy. TUP concentrations were measured at enrolment (1998-2000) using the Folin-Ciocalteau assay after a solid-phase extraction. TDPs were also estimated at baseline throughout a validated food frequency questionnaire and using our database based on USDA and Phenol-Explorer databases. We modeled associations using Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox proportional hazards models, with adjustment for potential confounders. During the 12-y follow-up, 274 participants (34%) died. At enrollment, TUP excretion adjusted for age and sex tended to be greater in participants who survived [163 ± 62 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/d)] than in those who died (143 ± 63 mg GAE/d) (P = 0.07). However, no significant differences were observed for TDPs. In the multivariable Cox model, participants in the highest tertile of TUP at enrolment had a lower mortality rate than those in the lowest tertile [HR = 0.70 (95% CI: 0.49-0.99); P-trend = 0.045], whereas no significant associations were found between TDP and overall mortality. TUP is an independent risk factor for mortality among community-dwelling older adults, suggesting that high dietary intake of polyphenols may be associated with longevity.

Association between both total baseline urinary and dietary polyphenols and substantial physical performance decline risk in older adults: A 9-year follow-up of the InCHIANTI study

“…TDP intake was estimated using a food composition database on polyphenols (17) based on three USDA databases (18–20) and the Phenol-Explorer database (21). TDP intake was calculated as the sum of flavonoids (anthocyanidins, flavonols, flavanones, flavones, flavanols and isoflavones), phenolic acids, lignans, stilbenes and other polyphenols expressed as aglycone equivalents (mg/d) (21).…”

Validating polyphenol intake estimates from a food-frequency questionnaire by using repeated 24-h dietary recalls and a unique method-of-triads approach with 2 biomarkers

“…The use of total urinary polyphenol (TUP) 4 concentration as a biomarker is comparable to plasma measurements of polyphenols (10) and is currently the most well-studied and promising biomarker of total polyphenol intake (11). Polyphenols undergo microbial conversion through oxidation, hydroxylation, and conjugation, so that the diverse original compounds share common metabolites (12)(13)(14).…”

Estimación de la ingesta diaria de compuestos fenólicos en la población española

“…Estos autores 18 han asociado un consumo elevado de polifenoles (>600 mg/día) procedentes de dietas ricas en frutas y verduras con una mayor concentración de polifenoles en orina, y esto a su vez, con una reducción de la mortalidad en poblaciones mayores de 65 años. En este sentido, estudios que analicen la ingesta total de polifenoles mediante la dieta de la población, aunque sea teóricos, y sus biomarcadores son muy importantes para poder avalar con 14 robustez la relación entre polifenoles y salud y poder disponer de multitud de datos que puedan servir para estimar las IDR de los polifenoles mediante la dieta.…”