Award details

Polyphenols and health

Reference	BBS/E/F/00044434
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Dr Paul Kroon
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	Quadram Institute Bioscience
Department	Quadram Institute Bioscience Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	3,878,654
Status	Current
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/04/2010
End date	31/03/2018
Duration	95 months

Abstract

Polyphenols are common dietary components that have emerged as key target phytochemicals for protecting against cardiovascular disease due to positive outcomes in epidemiological and clinical trials. Several cell types play crucial roles in both maintaining healthy vascular function and the development of CVD, and the most crucial are vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells that control vascular tone. The underlying mechanisms by which flavonoid-rich diets induce potentially beneficial changes in these cells are not understood, in particular (i) the identities of the active metabolites in vivo and (ii) the molecular mechanisms by which these metabolites alter cell function, are not known. The overall aim of this project is to identify and characterise mechanisms by which dietary flavonoids help maintain health. The emphasis will be on the vascular system and the strategy is to link IFR expertise and knowledge of flavonoid human metabolism with modern molecular nutrition methods to identify mechanisms of action that are achievable through diet. The specific objectives are to: (1) Quantify the bioavailability of polyphenols from foods and plant extracts in human feeding studies (2) Identify and characterise human polyphenol metabolites in blood, urine and faeces including products of colonic metabolism and human phase-2 metabolism using both targeted quantitative LC-MS/MS methods and non-targeted NMR and LC-MS techniques (3) Synthesise or isolate authentic human metabolites and assess their potential to modify vascular cell functions and signalling pathways using microarray and metabolomic approaches (4) Develop new hypotheses concerned with how dietary flavonoids maintain healthy vascular function, and test these using appropriate cell and animal models in combination with various molecular biochemical approaches including gene silencing techniques, protein phosphorylation assays, kinase inhibitors, and targeted assays of vasomodulatory and inflammatory factors.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Diet and Health
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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