Microbial phenolic metabolites are associated with better frontal lobe cognition

With increasing life expectancy,neurodegenerative diseases have become one of the leading causes of illhealth in the elderly.Preventive strategies include following healthy diets,such as the Mediterranean diet,which is particularly rich in polyphenols,bioactive compounds with neuroprotective properties.The aim of this study was to assess the association of microbial phenolic metabolites(MPM)with cognition.This cross-sectional analysis was performed with 200 participants of the PREDIMED trial(Barcelona-Clinic recruitment center).A novel method based on liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry was used to identify urinary MPM(protocatechuic acid,enterodiol glucuronide,enterolactone glucuronide,urolithin B glucuronide,and vanillic acid glucuronide),and cognitive function was evaluated with neuropsychological tests.Multivariable-adjusted ordinary least squares regression was used to assess the associations between cognitive function and MPM,and a score was calculated as the weighted sum of MPM.A higher MPM score was associated with better frontal lobe function.Among individual metabolites,vanillic acid glucuronide was correlated with frontal cognitive performance.Participants with higher concentrations of vanillic acid glucuronide and urolithin B glucuronide obtained better scores in the Color Trail Test part 2.A higher score for urinary multiMPM was associated with better frontal cognitive performance in an older Mediterranean population.

Influence of free fatty acid content and degree of fat saturation on production performance,nutrient digestibility,and intestinal morphology of laying hens

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary free fatty acid(FFA)content and degree of fat saturation on production performance,lipid and calcium digestibility,and intestinal function of laying hens.For a 15-week period,a total of 144 laying hens(19 weeks old)were randomly assigned to 8 dietary treatments,which were obtained by gradually replacing crude soybean oil with soybean acid oil(AO),or crude palm oil with palm fatty acid distillate(FAD).Thus,there were 4 soybean and 4 palm diets with 6%added fat varying in their FFA percentage(10%,20%,30%,and 45%),following a 2×4 factorial design.Each treatment included 6 replicates with 3 birds per replicate.Average daily feed intake and final body weight were significantly higher in palm diets(P<0.001),while no differences were found in egg mass and feed conversion ratio.Higher levels of FFA in soybean diets resulted in lower egg production and higher egg weight(linear,P<0.01).Regarding the degree of fat saturation,hens fed soybean diets presented higher digestibility of ether extract(EE),fatty acids,and calcium than palm diets(P<0.001).The dietary FFA percentage negatively affected the digestibility of EE and calcium(P<0.01),while having little effect on FA digestibility.There was a significant interaction in the AME;lower values were reported in soybean diets as the dietary FFA percentage increased(linear,P<0.01),whereas palm diets remained unaffected.The experimental diets had little effect on gastrointestinal weight and length.However,the jejunum of soybean diets showed higher villus height and higher villus height-to-crypt depth ratio than palm diets(P<0.05),and the dietary FFA percentage increased the crypt depth and decreased the villus height-to-crypt depth ratio(linear,P<0.05).It was concluded that varying dietary FFA content did not affect fat utilization as much as the degree of saturation did,supporting the use of AO and FAD as alternative fat ingredients.