Polyphenol-Lipid Interactions in Nutrition and Health

A special issue of Antioxidants (ISSN 2076-3921).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 2093

Special Issue Editors

REQUIMTE/LAQV, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
Interests: lipidomics; polyphenol metabolomics; endothelial barrier; membrane fluidity; diet-related diseases

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Guest Editor
Natural Chemistry Research Group, Department of Chemistry, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
Interests: biological activity; biomacromolecules; liquid chromatography; mass spectrometry; natural products; NMR spectroscopy; polyphenols; tannins
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plant polyphenols are key players in the modulation of oral sensory perception (e.g., astringency and bitterness) governing the consumer’s choices and adherence to healthy eating habits. Adherence to polyphenol-rich diets not only improves cardio- and vascular markers but also shapes the gut microbiota ecology and in turn the circulating metabolome with an impact on the host immune response.

While the modulation of oral astringency, bacterial growth and inflammatory response are governed by distinct molecular mechanisms, it is now known that lipid environments play a major role in polyphenol-mediated processes. Research with in vitro models has indicated that the extracellular biophysical interaction of polyphenols with membrane lipids alters the membrane’s biophysical properties with an impact not only on the permeability, transport and absorption of drugs and gases across the lipid bilayer but also on the conformation/activity of membrane proteins involved in the downstream intracellular signaling response. This is at the basis of the many pleiotropic effects (e.g., anti-inflammatory, anti-adhesive, anti-proliferative, anti-thrombotic, anti-bacterial, and anthelmintic) attributed to plant polyphenols.

As Guest Editors to this Special Issue on “Polyphenol-Lipid Interactions in Nutrition and Health”, we welcome the contribution of original research and review articles focused on the biophysical and biological interaction of polyphenols and their metabolites with membrane lipids either in membrane models (LUVs, GUVs, GPMVs) or cell models (cell/bacterial cultures) highlighting the poorly explored role of polyphenol-lipid interactions in mouthfeel perception, (neuro)inflammation and infection in the fields of human and animal nutrition/health. We also encourage papers utilizing computational chemistry, such as molecular dynamics simulation. As the stability and bioavailability of polyphenols can be influenced by their interactions with other macromolecules, such proteins and polysaccharides, especially during food processing and human metabolism, we also welcome the studies that focus on these aspects.

Dr. Ana Reis
Dr. Maarit Karonen
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • antibiotic resistance
  • animal feed
  • mouthfeel perception
  • bacterial growth
  • blood brain barrier
  • flavonoids
  • hydrolysable tannins
  • infection
  • (neuro)inflammation
  • microbial metabolites
  • nitric oxide
  • plant-based diets
  • phytochemicals
  • proanthocyanidins
  • vascular health

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 3469 KiB  
Article
Localization and Aggregation of Honokiol in the Lipid Membrane
by José Villalaín
Antioxidants 2024, 13(8), 1025; https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox13081025 - 22 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1433
Abstract
Honokiol, a biphenyl lignan extracted from bark extracts belonging to Magnolia plant species, is a pleiotropic compound which exhibits a widespread range of antioxidant, antibacterial, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antiaggregant, analgesic, antitumor, antiviral and neuroprotective activities. Honokiol, being highly hydrophobic, is soluble in common organic [...] Read more.
Honokiol, a biphenyl lignan extracted from bark extracts belonging to Magnolia plant species, is a pleiotropic compound which exhibits a widespread range of antioxidant, antibacterial, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antiaggregant, analgesic, antitumor, antiviral and neuroprotective activities. Honokiol, being highly hydrophobic, is soluble in common organic solvents but insoluble in water. Therefore, its biological effects could depend on its bioactive mechanism. Although honokiol has many impressive bioactive properties, its effects are unknown at the level of the biological membrane. Understanding honokiol’s bioactive mechanism could unlock innovative perspectives for its therapeutic development or for therapeutic development of molecules similar to it. I have studied the behaviour of the honokiol molecule in the presence of a plasma-like membrane and established the detailed relation of honokiol with membrane components using all-atom molecular dynamics. The results obtained in this work sustain that honokiol has a tendency to insert inside the membrane; locates near and below the cholesterol oxygen atom, amid the hydrocarbon membrane palisade; increases slightly hydrocarbon fluidity; does not interact specifically with any membrane lipid; and, significantly, forms aggregates. Significantly, aggregation does not impede honokiol from going inside the membrane. Some of the biological characteristics of honokiol could be accredited to its aptitude to alter membrane biophysical properties, but the establishment of aggregate forms in solution might hamper its clinical use. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polyphenol-Lipid Interactions in Nutrition and Health)
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