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Content archived on 2024-05-29

Dietary polyphenols, gut microbes and human health: A systems biology approach

Objective

The interactions between trillions of gut microbes (microbiota) and the human host represent a significant source of untapped knowledge that can be used to unravel the complexity of human health. This is also true for dietary compounds that could be used strategically by the food industry to prevent chronic disease. Polyphenols sit firmly in this domain and applying a systems biology approach offers a key opportunity to effectively use these compounds in consumer products. Polyphenol research has been hindered by a lack of knowledge of what occurs to them in the human gut, particularly how they are metabolised by the gut microbiota and their bioavailability.

Three systems are involved in this: the consortium of polyphenols in the diet, the consortium of gut microbiota that metabolise them prior to absorption, and the human metabonome. A mechanistic understanding of the interaction between these complex systems will allow intervention by the food industry to generate novel functional foods with health benefits for the consumer. A systems biology approach will provide this and is precisely the objective of this proposal: To develop a systems biology approach to understand and predict the health effects of dietary xenobiotic compounds through host-microbiota interactions.

A weight of evidence now supports the use of polyphenols for reducing the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and this is the initial target. Bio-availability remains the key issue that needs to be resolved prior to using these compounds as functional food ingredients. To achieve this objective requires the combined efforts of several scientific disciplines which are currently spread across independent organisations in the EU. Transferring this knowledge and working together to achieve this aim in a coherent relevant scheme is vital. This collaborative project will accelerate the research agenda and provide a platform for investigation of host microbiota interactions using systems biology.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

Keywords

Topic(s)

Call for proposal

FP6-2005-MOBILITY-3
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

TOK - Marie Curie actions-Transfer of Knowledge

Coordinator

UNILEVER NEDERLAND HOLDINGS B.V.
EU contribution
No data
Total cost
No data

Participants (3)