AUTHOR=Scarano Aurelia , Butelli Eugenio , De Santis Stefania , Cavalcanti Elisabetta , Hill Lionel , De Angelis Maria , Giovinazzo Giovanna , Chieppa Marcello , Martin Cathie , Santino Angelo TITLE=Combined Dietary Anthocyanins, Flavonols, and Stilbenoids Alleviate Inflammatory Bowel Disease Symptoms in Mice JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition VOLUME=4 YEAR=2018 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2017.00075 DOI=10.3389/fnut.2017.00075 ISSN=2296-861X ABSTRACT=

Dietary polyphenols are associated with a wide range of health benefits, protecting against chronic diseases and promoting healthy aging. Dietary polyphenols offer a complementary approach to the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), a group of common chronic intestinal inflammation syndromes for which there is no cure. Tomato is widely consumed but its content of polyphenols is low. We developed a tomato variety, Bronze, enriched in three distinct classes of polyphenols: flavonols, anthocyanins, and stilbenoids. Using Bronze tomatoes as a dietary supplement as well as Indigo (high anthocyanins and flavonols), ResTom (high stilbenoids) and wild-type tomatoes, we examined the effects of the different polyphenols on the host gut microbiota, inflammatory responses, and the symptoms of chronic IBD, in a mouse model. Bronze tomatoes significantly impacted the symptoms of IBD. A similar result was observed using diets supplemented with red grape skin containing flavonols, anthocyanins, and stilbenoids, suggesting that effective protection is provided by different classes of polyphenols acting synergistically.