Metabolites of Dietary Polyphenols found in the Rat Brain

What is it about?

It's about our diet. We do not yet know many facts about what happens in our body after we eat fruits, vegetables and cereals. These contain the so-called polyphenols that are plant-specific compounds. In our gut, polyphenols are cleaved in smaller units by billions of microbes (microbiota). These smaller units, called metabolites, can be absorbed from the colon (the last segment of the gut) into the blood.

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Why is it important?

We have found that some polyphenols microbial metabolites can reach the brain. This shows that there is a chemical interplay between what we eat (fruits? vegetables?), our intestine and our brain. Some, though not all, metabolites can cross the blood-brain barrier. There is huge interest in understanding the selectivity of this barrier, to develop neuro-active drug or drug-like compounds.

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