Unravelling phenolic metabotypes in the frame of the COMBAT study, a randomized, controlled trial with cranberry supplementation.

Nicole Tosi, Claudia Favari, Letizia Bresciani, Emma Flanagan, Michael Hornberger, Arjan Narbad, Daniele Del Rio, David Vauzour, Pedro Mena

Food research international (Ottawa, Ont.) 2023 Oct

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Cranberry (poly)phenols may have potential health benefits. Circulating (poly)phenol metabolites can act as mediators of these effects, but they are subjected to an extensive inter-individual variability. This study aimed to quantify both plasma and urine (poly)phenol metabolites following a 12-week intake of a cranberry powder in healthy older adults, and to investigate inter-individual differences by considering the existence of urinary metabotypes related to dietary (poly)phenols. Up to 13 and 67 metabolites were quantified in plasma and urine respectively. Cranberry consumption led to changes in plasma metabolites, mainly hydroxycinnamates and hippuric acid. Individual variability in urinary metabolites was assessed using different data sets and a combination of statistical models. Three phenolic metabotypes were identified, colonic metabolism being the main driver for subject clustering. Metabotypes were characterized by quali-quantitative differences in the excretion of some metabolites such as phenyl-γ-valerolactones, hydroxycinnamic acids, and phenylpropanoic acids. Metabotypes were further confirmed when applying a model only focused on flavan-3-ol colonic metabolites. 5-(3',4'-dihydroxyphenyl)-γ-valerolactone derivatives were the most relevant metabolites for metabotyping. Metabotype allocation was well preserved after 12-week intervention. This metabotyping approach for cranberry metabolites represents an innovative step to handle the complexity of (poly)phenol metabolism in free-living conditions, deciphering the existence of metabotypes derived from the simultaneous consumption of different classes of (poly)phenols. These results will help contribute to studying the health effects of cranberries and other (poly)phenol-rich foods, mainly considering gut microbiota-driven individual differences. Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Citation

Nicole Tosi, Claudia Favari, Letizia Bresciani, Emma Flanagan, Michael Hornberger, Arjan Narbad, Daniele Del Rio, David Vauzour, Pedro Mena. Unravelling phenolic metabotypes in the frame of the COMBAT study, a randomized, controlled trial with cranberry supplementation. Food research international (Ottawa, Ont.). 2023 Oct;172:113187