Targeted and metabolomic study of biomarkers of cocoa powder consumption effects on inflammatory biomarkers in patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease
Cocoa and its derived products have received considerable attention in the last decade due to their numerous health benefits, including antioxidant, anti-platelet and positive effects on lipid metabolism and vascular function. Inflammation plays a key role in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. However, cocoa feeding trials focused on inflammation are still rare and the results yielded are controversial. Health effects derived from cocoa consumption have been partly attributed to its high polyphenol content, in particular of flavan-3-ols. Bioavailability is a key issue in order for cocoa polyphenols to exert their biological activities. In the case of flavan-3-ols, bioavailability is dependent on their degree of polymerization, with the colon being an active site for the metabolism of high molecular weight flavan-3-ols or procyanidins. Estimation of polyphenol consumption or exposure is also a very challenging task in Food and Nutrition Science in order to correlate the intake of phytochemicals with health effects in vivo. In this area, modern analytical techniques based on mass spectrometry are leading to considerable advances in targeted metabolite analysis and particularly in global metabolite analysis or metabolomics. In the current paper we have summarized the most relevant results of our recent research conducted on the bioavailability of cocoa polyphenols and inflammatory biomarkers of atherosclerosis in patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease (CHD), including the application of both targeted analysis and a metabolomic approach for estimating polyphenol bioavailability and biomarkers of exposure.
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | artículo biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Teknoscienze
2010
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/50172 |
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