Ciciola, Paola (2020) Effects of grape polyphenols on cardiometabolic risk factors. [Tesi di dottorato]

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Polyphenols are a heterogeneous group of compounds contained in plant foods. The main sources of polyphenols are whole grains, fruit, especially red fruits, soy, cocoa, tea, coffee and wine. The scientific interest for polyphenols is increasing thanks to epidemiological studies that suggest an association between the consumption of polyphenol-rich foods and prevention of some chronic-degenerative diseases, such as type 2 diabetes (DMT2), cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and several types of malignancies. Polyphenols are reported to improve some biological functions, including endothelial function, platelet aggregation, lipid and glucose metabolism and to reduce oxidative stress. It is important to consider that the bioavailability of polyphenols, which is quite low (<10% of polyphenols or their metabolites are found in urine and plasma) influence their activities while their chemical structure influence their intestinal absorption. For these reasons, great attention is currently given to biovailability and structure of polyphenols. Evidence on the beneficial effects of polyphenols mainly derive from in vitro and animal studies. These studies focused on the beneficial effects of the individual classes of polyphenols, in particular flavonoids. Moreover, these studies used pharmacological doses of these compounds that are difficult to obtain with the usual diet. Red grape is a great source of polyphenols, especially anthocyanin and resveratrol. Acute studies demonstrated that grape polyphenols are able to reduce plasma glucose concentration in both animals and humans. Moreover, it has been observed an improvement in glucose metabolism after chronic consumption of grape polyphenols in subjects with the metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes. Grape supplementation seems to have also a favorable effect on others cardio-metabolic risk factors, such as plasma lipid levels, LDL oxidation and blood pressure. In order to highlight the importance of grape polyphenols in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, the present project was designed to assess: (1) the bioavailability of grape polyphenols and their plasma pharmacokinetic profile after assumption of phenolic-rich drink made from grape pomace; (2) the impact of grape polyphenols on some cardio-metabolic risk factors.

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