ATHENA

AnThocyanin and polyphenol bioactives for Health Enhancement through Nutritional Advancement

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Anthocyanins are health promoting dietary polyphenols that protect against cardiovascular disease, caner and obesity in preclinical studies with animals. The ATHENA project will address how good dietary anthocyanins are in protecting against chronic disease, by addressing the following questions: • Benefits and risks: What is the dose response to anthocyanin phytonutrients? Are anthocyanins from different food sources equivalent? How well do anthocyanins perform in promoting health compared to other polyphenol phytonutrients such as stilbenes, isoflavones and epicatechins? • Mechanisms of action: What are the mechanisms of action of polyphenol phytonutrients in combating chronic diseases? How do anthocyanins limit weight gain/fat development? How do dietary anthocyanins offer cardioprotection? How do dietary anthocyanins slow the progression of cancers? • Food or Pharma: Supplements or extracts of polyphenols do not appear to promote health as well as when they are consumed in whole foods. What is the influence of nutritional context on the efficacy of polyphenol phytonutrients? Does nutritional context influence the bioavailability of polyphenol phytonutrients? • Roles in human: Do dietary anthocyanins afford protection against cardiovascular disease, cancer and other chronic diseases in human? It is the uniqueness of the interactions that ATHENA will promote, that will innovate and give the most significant added-value to Europe. ATHENA will bring together groups with widely different expertise from across Europe, so that the consortium will be able to achieve significant progress towards addressing the Grand Challenge of Chronic Disease. It will impact the health, well being and quality of life across Europe.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Eating anthocyanin for good health

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The EU-funded 'Anthocyanin and polyphenol bioactives for health enhancement through nutritional advancement' (http://www.athena-flora.eu (ATHENA)) project has assessed the effectiveness of dietary anthocyanins in keeping chronic diseases at bay through human studies. Factors assessed included dose-response, mechanisms of action, bioavailability of polyphenol supplements or extracts and their health-promoting qualities.

ATHENA developed foods with varying anthocyanin content from corn and tomato to determine dose-response relationships and assess the benefits of different polyphenols. Transgenic tomato lines were successfully combined to produce high levels of resveratrol, isoflavones, genistin and pelargonidin-based anthocyanins.

Work is ongoing to develop tomato crops with high levels of epigallocatechin. Studies on apolipoprotein E (ApoE)-deficient mice and rats assessed if anthocyanin consumption can mitigate cardiovascular risk. The team designed new protocols to test the effect of polyphenol-containing cereals on gut microbiota composition.

The anti-obesity effects of an anthocyanin-enriched diet on mice were assessed by comparing the differences in gene expression profiles with mice on high-fat anthocyanin-free diets. Anthocyanin consumption significantly inhibited certain undesirable epigenetic changes in mice on a high fat diet. Moreover, adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase pathway activators like cyanidin-3 glucoside and Moro blood orange juice increased glucose tolerance, suggesting a role in diabetes treatment.

Through novel purification methods, ATHENA successfully generated a variety of pure anthocyanins for bioactivity and feeding trials. Approval has already been obtained for an epidemiological study in humans. Scientists formulated a more suitable water-soluble extract of anthocyanins from purple corn cobs for patient intervention studies as anthocyanin-fortified cookies showed poor bioavailability. A sufficient amount of corn cobs have already been produced to manufacture adequate number of stick packs for this study.

ATHENA developed a database and software with information on anthocyanin as well as macro- and micro-nutrient levels in different foods. Results from the human studies should reveal if anthocyanin consumption prevents onset or slows progression of chronic diseases like cancer and diabetes. This could pave the way for commercial production of dietary formulations that promote health and longevity.