Tier 4 — mechanistic

Where to Look into the Puzzle of Polyphenols and Health? The Postbiotics and Gut Microbiota Associated with Human Metabotypes

Cortés-Martín A, Selma MV, Tomás-Barberán FA, González-Sarrías A, Espín JC
Molecular Nutrition & Food Research 2020 64(9):e1900952

Bibliography

PubMed
PMID 32196920
DOI
10.1002/mnfr.201900952
Funding
Not stated in the published abstract; authors affiliated with CEBAS-CSIC, Spain.
Competing interests
Not stated in the published abstract.

Study snapshot

DesignNarrative review
ModelNot applicable — literature review
SampleNot applicable
InterventionNot applicable
DurationNot applicable
Endpoints

What the study showed, in plain terms

This review explains why people respond differently to polyphenol-rich foods: gut bacteria determine whether someone is a producer of beneficial metabolites like urolithin A from foods such as pomegranate and walnuts, or a non-producer who gets little of the same benefit from the same food.

Key findings

This review summarises human metabotypes for dietary polyphenol metabolism, including equol/isoflavone metabotypes and the urolithin metabotypes: metabotype-A (producing only urolithin-A), metabotype-B (producing urolithin-A, isourolithin-A, and urolithin-B), and metabotype-0 (non-producers). It discusses how these gut-microbiota-dependent metabotypes explain inter-individual variability in response to ellagitannin-rich foods.

What this study can and cannot tell us

This is a narrative review, not original data. It does not itself establish a specific producer-prevalence percentage for a defined population — any such figures should be traced to the primary cohort studies it references.

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Last verified

Dr. Khaled Mahmoud, MBBChCritical Care Medicine, Longevity Science & Editorial Direction Dr. Amr Yasser, PhDCardiometabolic, Musculoskeletal, Gut & Bioavailability