Prebiotic effects of plant-derived (poly)phenols on host metabolism: Is there a role for short-chain fatty acids?

Abstract

The gut microbiota has been extensively investigated during the last decade because of its effects on host neuroendocrine pathways and other processes. The imbalance between beneficial and pathogenic bacteria, known as dysbiosis, may be a determining predisposing factor for many noncommunicable chronic diseases, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, and Alzheimer’s disease. On the other hand, interventions aiming to reestablish the balance between microbiota components have been suggested as potential preventive therapeutic strategies against these disorders. Among these interventions, dietary supplementation with (poly)phenols has been highlighted due to the modulatory effects exerted by those compounds on the gut microbiota. In addition, (poly)phenol consumption is associated with increased production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), a set of microbial metabolites whose actions are ascribed to improving the abovementioned metabolic disorders. Thus, this review discusses the modulation of the gut microbiota by prebiotic (poly)phenols based on in vivo studies performed with isolated (poly)phenolic compounds, their interaction with the gut microbiota and the production of SCFAs in pursuit of the molecular mechanisms underlying the health effects of (poly)phenols on host metabolism.

Keywords:

• Gut microbiota
• prebiotics
• (poly)phenols
• short-chain fatty acids

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Thaiane Coelho dos Santos and Thamires Coelho dos Santos for drawing Figure 1 and to Dr. Renato Simões Gaspar for the critical revision.

Declaration of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Additional information

Funding

The authors have been funded by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e ao Desenvolvimento Científico, Tecnológico e Inovação do Estado do Maranhão—FAPEMA (PAEDT-03290/17, UNIVERSAL-00523/14, UNIVERSAL-01197/17, POSGRAD 02598/21, fellowship to RBLF), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—CAPES (Finance Code 001) and Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Tecnológico—CNPq (Fellowship to MVCB and AMAP (308163/2019-2)).