Yang Yang, Wang Ke, Chiou Jia-Chi, Zhao Danyue
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, SAR, China.
Research Institute for Future Food, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
Curr Res Microb Sci. 2025 Jun 19;9:100425. doi: 10.1016/j.crmicr.2025.100425. eCollection 2025.
Mounting evidence suggests that dietary polyphenols exert health benefits partly through their favorable interactions with gut bacteria. However, little is known about polyphenol's metabolic regulatory effects towards individual bacteria at the molecular level. Ellagic acid (EA), a polyphenol abundantly present in plant-based foods, was found to exhibit prebiotic properties through differential interactions with probiotic-like bacteria, including the EA-to-urolithin converting species such as (). This study aimed to investigate the crosstalk between EA and EA-responsive beneficial bacteria, including both conventional and next-generation probiotics originating from the human gut, and to understand the underlying mechanism by which EA exerts prebiotic activities . The influence of EA and urolithins on probiotic bacteria was investigated at the levels of fecal microbiota and individual strains via anaerobic culturomics and metabolomics approaches. Results indicate that dietary-level EA favorably regulated gut microbial composition through the enrichment of probiotic genera (e.g., and ) . Regarding individual bacteria, EA supplementation promoted the growth of GG and . Integrated targeted and untargeted metabolomic analyses of intracellular and extracellular metabolites revealed that EA/urolithins modulated metabolic pathways associated with amino acid metabolism, energy production and oxidative stress. Furthermore, exhibited strong EA uptake ability, facilitating the urolithin bioconversion and cellular accumulation in a dose-dependent manner. Overall, this study provides in-depth understanding on how dietary polyphenols with prebiotic properties regulate the growth and metabolic functions of probiotic-like bacteria.
越来越多的证据表明，膳食多酚部分通过与肠道细菌的良好相互作用发挥健康益处。然而，在分子水平上，关于多酚对单个细菌的代谢调节作用知之甚少。鞣花酸（EA）是植物性食物中大量存在的一种多酚，通过与类益生菌的差异相互作用表现出益生元特性，包括EA向尿石素转化的物种，如（）。本研究旨在探讨EA与EA反应性有益细菌之间的相互作用，包括源自人类肠道的传统和新一代益生菌，并了解EA发挥益生元活性的潜在机制。通过厌氧培养组学和代谢组学方法，在粪便微生物群和单个菌株水平上研究了EA和尿石素对益生菌的影响。结果表明，膳食水平的EA通过富集益生菌属（如和）有利地调节肠道微生物组成。对于单个细菌，补充EA促进了GG和的生长。对细胞内和细胞外代谢物的靶向和非靶向代谢组学综合分析表明，EA/尿石素调节了与氨基酸代谢、能量产生和氧化应激相关的代谢途径。此外，表现出很强的EA摄取能力，以剂量依赖的方式促进尿石素的生物转化和细胞积累。总体而言，本研究深入了解了具有益生元特性的膳食多酚如何调节类益生菌的生长和代谢功能。
