Physiological Effects of New Polyphenol-enriched Foods in Humans

Physiological Effects of New Polyphenol-enriched Foods in Healthy Humans

Polyphenolic compounds exert several health benefits depending on bioavailability. Encapsulation may improve bioavailability of these compounds.This study will evaluate bioavailability of some polyphenols (curcumin and cocoa polyphenols) from new enriched-foods. In particular bread and nut based creams will be used as food matrices to include free or encapsulated polyphenols.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Healthy
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: encapsulated curcumin; Other: encapsulated curcumin + PQG; Other: free cocoa polyphenol; Other: control nut cream; Other: encapsulated cocoa polyphenols; Other: free curcumin

Detailed Description

Polyphenolic compounds are abundant in foods and have been suggested to exert several health benefits including prevention of cancer, cardiovascular disease, suppressing inflammation, diabetes, etc. These properties are mediated by bioavailability of individual polyphenols that is, in turn, influenced by food properties (food matrix, technological processing, etc.), interaction with other compounds, and host related factors. Some well-studied dietary polyphenols include catechins from tea, curcumin from turmeric, procyanidins and anthocyanidins in grapes, berries, and dark chocolate. These compounds have strong antioxidative activities in vitro and have been suggested to have several beneficial health effects.

Curcumin, a phenolic compound deriving from turmeric spice, shows many biological and pharmacological effects, and clinical studies in humans proved that it's extremely safe and well tolerated even at very high doses (8-12 g/day). However, curcumin has not yet been approved as a therapeutic agent, because of its very low bioavailability depending on a poor absorption, rapid metabolism and rapid systemic clearance. Different approaches have been investigated to improve curcumin bioavailability. Among them, the use of adjuvants that interferes with metabolic pathways of curcumin, like piperine, represents one of the main strategies used to enhance its bioavailability. A further approach consists on manufacturing of curcumin containing liposomes, phospholipids complexes or nanoparticles. For polymer-based nanoparticles, maintenance of biological activity, increased absorption and delayed delivery was reported.

Cocoa based products are widely consumed in many countries, and indications of health benefits by some cocoa constituents, mainly polyphenols, have also been reported. Cocoa contains very high levels of polyphenols, in particular flavanols and among these, mainly epicatechins. The bioavailability of cocoa polyphenols has been measured in several human studies from acute consumption of cocoa rich beverages or chocolate. Monomeric flavonoids as well as dimeric and trimeric procyanidins were detected in human plasma over 2-3 hours from consumption. Plasma concentration of cocoa polyphenols were often in the nanomolar or low micromolar range. Donovan and coworkers demonstrated that commercial available chocolate samples contain a predominance of the less bioavailable (-)-catechin enantiomer as compared to the (+)-catechin which is present in most other plant derived foods. This may explain the relatively low bioavailability of catechins from chocolate and cocoa-containing products. The food matrix seems to be an important factor that may affect the bioavailability of cocoa polyphenols. For instance, proteins in the food matrix are supposed to form highly polymerized complexes with procyanidins, which can reduce bioaccessibility of these phenolic compounds. However, the potential negative effect of protein content in foods was not confirmed in a study that evaluated the cocoa polyphenols bioavailability after the intake of a milk-powder cocoa beverage. However, concurrent carbohydrates consumption seems to increase significantly the uptake of flavonols in humans. Little is known whether and to what extent oligomeric procyanidins from cocoa are absorbed. However, the biological activity of procyanidins with high polymerization degree may be partly attributed to their colonic breakdown products, including phenolic acids.

Actually there is also a growing interest in other biological properties of phenolic compounds in addition to their antioxidant effects; particularly, some evidences suggest that certain dietary phenols may modulate metabolic homeostasis. This is the case of chlorogenic acids, that are reported to play a potential role in modifying the pattern of intestinal glucose uptake and of other flavonoids (quercetin, catechins) that may modulate activation of GLP-1 receptor, involved in modulation of insulin and glucagon secretion, gastric emptying, and appetite.

In this randomized, crossover trial, serum, urine and fecal concentrations of curcumin and cocoa polyphenols, their parental compounds, metabolites and phenolic acids, following a two day multi-dose administration with six food sources, will be measured. All volunteers will undergo to six interventions - bread enriched with three different forms of curcumin (free, encapsulated, and encapsulated plus piperine) and nut based creams enriched with cocoa polyphenols (free or encapsulated one) or control cream (without enrichment). A one-week wash-out period will be included between two sequential treatments. Blood, urine and feces will be collected at time 0 (baseline), 24, and 48 hours; further blood samples at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6 hours after consumption of the first meal, and urine samples at 2 hours time intervals up to 10 hours, will be collected too. In particular, area under the curve (AUC) of serum and urine concentrations of parental compounds and metabolites in the time interval 0-24 hours will be calculated as primary outcomes. In addition the amount of total polyphenols in fecal samples will be measured.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 10
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Italy
  • Portici, Italy, 80055
    • Department of Food Science

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 16 years to 43 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18 - 45 years old, male and female
• Healthy by medical assessment
• Normal weight: BMI 18 - 25
• Sign of a written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Age > 18 and < 45 years old
• Pregnancy or breastfeeding
• Intestinal or metabolic diseases/disorders such as diabetic, renal, hepatic, hypertension, pancreatic or ulcer, including lactose-intolerance
• Previous abdominal/gastrointestinal surgery
• Regular consumption of medication
• Antibiotic therapy within 2 months previous the study
• Food allergies and intolerances (celiac disease, lactose intolerance, nut allergy etc)
• Unwilling to consume experimental foods
• Concurrent participation or having participated to another clinical trial during the last 3 weeks

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

6

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: control	Other: control nut cream; nut cream, cocoa polyphenols 0g/100g cream, 100 g/day per 1 day
Experimental: encapsulated curcumin	Other: encapsulated curcumin; encapsulated curcumin-enriched bread, 1g/100g bread, 200g bread/day
Experimental: encapsulated curcumin + PQG; PQG means Piperine, Quercetin and Genistein	Other: encapsulated curcumin + PQG; bread enriched with encapsulated curcumin plus piperine, quercetin and genistein, 1g/100g bread, 200g bread/day
Active Comparator: free cocoa polyphenol	Other: free cocoa polyphenol; nut cream enriched with free cocoa polyphenols, 1,5 g/100g cream, 100g/day per 1 day
Experimental: encapsulated cocoa polyphenols	Other: encapsulated cocoa polyphenols; nut cream enriched with encapsulated cocoa polyphenols, 1,5 g/100g cream, 100g/day per 1 day
Active Comparator: free curcumin; Subjects will consume bread added with free curcumin	Other: free curcumin; free curcumin in bread, dosage 1g/100g, 200g/day per 1 day

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Serum Polyphenol Concentrations Over 24h From Food Consumption	Area Under the Curves (AUC) from 0 to 24h of parent polyphenols was calculated using a trapezoidal rule applied to the concentration-time curves of compounds.	0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, and 24 hours post-dose
Urinary Excretion of Total Polyphenols	Area Under the Curve (AUC) from 0 to 24h of total polyphenols (sum of parent polyphenols and metabolites)was calculated using a trapezoidal rule applied to the urinary concentration-time curves of compounds.	Time intervals: 0-2, 2-4, 4-6, 6-8, 10-24 hours post-dose.
Amount of Total Fecal Polyphenols	Amount of parent polyphenols and metabolites in feces was calculated by multiplying net concentrations by the amount of feces.	0 and 24 hours post-dose.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Federico II University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Vincenzo Fogliano, Professor, University of Naples; Study Director: Paola Vitaglione, Researcher, University of Naples

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: December 1, 2010
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 1, 2011
• Study Completion (Actual): July 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 27, 2011
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 2, 2011
• First Posted (Estimate): February 3, 2011

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): August 1, 2012
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 31, 2012
• Last Verified: July 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: bioavailability; polyphenols; curcumin; cocoa
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Physiological Effects of Drugs; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Peripheral Nervous System Agents; Enzyme Inhibitors; Analgesics; Sensory System Agents; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Antirheumatic Agents; Antineoplastic Agents; Curcumin
• Other Study ID Numbers: DSA-FF-01