View article

(Poly) phenols are plant-derived bioactive compounds abundant in human diet,(1, 2) that are largely metabolised to simpler phenolic catabolites upon ingestion (3–5). These compounds have been attributed with several beneficial effects on human health,(4, 6, 7) but further analyses on the properties of these bioavailable catabolites is needed. To this end, four previously identified microbiota mediated phenolic catabolites were assessed for their anti-genotoxicity and ability to activate the Nrf2-pathway, which provides protection against oxidative stress.

Normal and adenocarcinoma colonocyte cell lines were cultured with either 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (HBA), benzoic acid (BA), 3-(3-hydroxyphenyl) propionic acid (3’HPPA), or 3-phenylpropionic acid (3PPA) at 10 μM, 50 μM, and 100 μM for 24 hours. The phenolic catabolites were determined to be non-cytotoxic in both cell lines up to 100 μM. Each phenolic catabolite …