Insight into Polyphenol and Gut Microbiota Crosstalk: Are Their Metabolites the Key to Understand Protective Effects against Metabolic Disorders?

Abstract

Lifestyle factors, especially diet and nutrition, are currently regarded as essential avenues to decrease modern-day cardiometabolic disorders (CMD), including obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and atherosclerosis. Many groups around the world attribute these trends, at least partially, to bioactive plant polyphenols given their anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory actions. In fact, polyphenols can prevent or reverse the progression of disease processes through many distinct mechanisms. In particular, the crosstalk between polyphenols and gut microbiota, recently unveiled thanks to DNA-based tools and next generation sequencing, unravelled the central regulatory role of dietary polyphenols and their intestinal micro-ecology metabolites on the host energy metabolism and related illnesses. The objectives of this review are to: (1) provide an understanding of classification, structure, and bioavailability of dietary polyphenols; (2) underline their metabolism by gut microbiota; (3) highlight their prebiotic effects on microflora; (4) discuss the multifaceted roles of their metabolites in CMD while shedding light on the mechanisms of action; and (5) underscore their ability to initiate host epigenetic regulation. In sum, the review clearly documents whether dietary polyphenols and micro-ecology favorably interact to promote multiple physiological functions on human organism.

Phenolic Content and Antimicrobial and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Solidago virga-aurea, Phyllanthus niruri, Epilobium angustifolium, Peumus boldus, and Ononis spinosa Extracts

“…In order to improve our knowledge about the mechanism of action of the studied herbal extracts, a fingerprint analysis via high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to ultraviolet and mass spectrometry (HPLC-UV-MS) was conducted to identify and quantify selected phenolic compounds, in the phytocomplex. Specifically, gallic acid, rutin, catechin, and epicatechin were selected considering their intrinsic antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties [32,33]. Finally, a bioinformatics analysis was also carried out to predict putative human and microbial enzymes targeted by the extracts' phytocompounds and underlying the observed bio-pharmacological effects.…”

The Gut‒Breast Axis: Programming Health for Life

“…Phytochemicals (polyphenols, carotenoids) in the maternal diet provides an exogenous source of antioxidants, since they are also transferred to milk [ 59 ]. Although many of the human milk phytochemicals have a wide range of biological activities [ 60 , 61 , 62 ], most of the research interest has been focused on polyphenols because of their potential as antioxidants. Through their antioxidant activities, diet-related human milk polyphenols might contribute to the benefits that human milk provides to this infant population [ 63 ].…”

Efficacy of Polyphenols in the Management of Dyslipidemia: A Focus on Clinical Studies

“…PLPs, owing to their chemical structure and ROS scavenging properties, have commonly been identified as direct antioxidants. Their properties have been extensively documented over the years, mainly through numerous in vitro studies [ 83 , 84 , 85 ]. Nevertheless, a common criticism is that the experimental model too heavily relies on elevated concentrations of unaltered PLPs, which may not accurately reflect in vivo conditions.…”

“…Indeed, low bioavailability, chemical modification during digestion in the gut lumen (i.e., deglycosylation), post-absorption in the liver (methyl, glucuronide and sulfate conjugation), dubious bioaccessibility, and short biological half-life render such experimental high dosage unrealistic, and even create a rift between in vitro and in vivo experimental conditions by a factor of 10 3 –10 6 [ 75 ]. Besides, in vitro models cannot account for the complex interaction of PLPs with the gut microbiota and resulting metabolites [ 75 , 76 , 83 , 84 , 86 , 87 , 88 ]. However, specific PLPs have garnered interest owing to their high bioavailability and consequently relatively high plasmatic concentrations.…”

“…The inconsistency may stem from the study design, huge PLPs concentration (45.3–3589 mg/day), intake duration (14–168 days), and matrix ( Table 3 ). Importantly, food matrix represents one of the major limiting factor affecting PLP bioavailability and subsequent gastrointestinal absorption [ 84 ]. Further studies are certainly warranted to investigate the preventive actions of PLP in healthy individuals.…”