2020 Guglielmetti - BMC
Effect of a polyphenol-rich dietary pattern on intestinal permeability and gut and blood microbiomics in older subjects: study protocol of the MaPLE randomised controlled trial
Guglielmetti S, Bernardi S, Del Bo' C, Cherubini A, Porrini M, Gargari G, Hidalgo-Liberona N, Gonzalez-Dominguez R, Peron G, Zamora-Ros R, Winterbone MS, Kirkup B, Kroon PA, Andres-Lacueva C, *Riso P
During aging, alterations of the intestinal microbial ecosystem may occur, which contribute to the impairment of the intestinal barrier function and to the immune system alterations typical of older age, resulting in an increase of intestinal permeability and inflammatory processes at the systemic level (inflamm-aging). There is evidence of a "diet-intestinal microbiota-intestinal permeability" axis playing a very important role on older people health, which can be positively modulated through the intake of foods rich in bioactive molecules such as polyphenols.
In the context described above, this article describes the MaPLE project (Microbiome mAnipulation through Polyphenols for managing Leakiness in the Elderly), funded by the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies (MIPAAF) as part of the European Joint Programming Initiative "A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life ”(JPI HDHL, http://www.healthydietforhealthylife.eu/). The MaPLE project focuses on a cross-over randomized controlled dietary intervention during which a group of 51 subjects over the age of 60 years received 8 weeks of a control diet or a diet comprising three daily portions of foods rich in polyphenols to replace other comparable products (but low in polyphenol content) present in the control diet. The paper presents and discusses the rationale and purpose of the MaPLE project, which is to demonstrate how a polyphenol-rich dietary pattern can positively influence the intestinal microbial ecosystem with consequent improvement of intestinal permeability and reduction of the translocation of inflammatory bacterial factors into the bloodstream in older subjects.
