URI researchers identify bioactive compounds that may inhibit Alzheimer’s

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – Pomegranates and other so-called “superfoods” are known by scientists to have positive effects on the brain by improving functions such as memory and cognition. But a team of University of Rhode Island researchers has discovered it may not be the “superfoods” themselves that have positive effects, but rather the way these foodstuffs interact with the body’s microflora during gut microbial metabolism that could lead to breakthroughs in protecting against Alzheimer’s.

Navindra Seeram, an associate professor of biomedical and pharmaceutical science, said his team has found that urolithins, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective compounds, are created when the body’s gut bacteria break down polyphenols, which are present in pomegranate extract. The American Chemical Society recently published a brief account of Seeram’s work in ACS Chemical Neuroscience.

“We knew that a purified pomegranate extract worked in an Alzheimer’s transgenic animal model, and there are a few other groups besides us who have reported similar findings: Pomegranate fruit works,” Seeram said in a release. “But we asked a simple question: ‘What is it within the extract that is really working?’ And that’s where it became interesting.”

Seeram isolated and identified 21 compounds, mostly polyphenols, from the pomegranate extract but none were able to cross the blood-brain barrier, which protects against unwanted substances from reaching the brain. However, when those polyphenols were biotransformed by the gut microflora, the resulting urolithins were able to cross the barrier.

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While the computational studies indicate that the urolithins have the potential to cross the blood-brain barrier, Seeram is still unsure whether they actually do; he said in a release that further in vivo studies would be needed to confirm these initial findings.

Not everyone is able to produce these useful urolithins, however. Each person’s gut microflora is different, as is how food is metabolized, as well. While one person’s body may turn pomegranate extract into urolithins, another person’s gut bacteria may not perform the same function.

Because Seeram was able to identify urolithins as the potentially active compounds for Alzheimer’s, it opens the door to allow researchers to deliver them directly to subjects who cannot produce them naturally. During the next phase of his research, Seeram and his team will use animal studies to determine if the compounds are actually penetrating the blood-brain barrier, and repeat their previous transgenic Alzheimer’s animal experiments using pure urolithins to confirm their findings.

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