Protective effects of coffee metabolites againsts oxidative stress

Nowadays, since life expectancy has increased and the quality of the environment in which we live has worsened, the attention to neurodegenerative diseases has grown. Aging, in fact, is a major predisposing factor for the most common neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease (Esposito et al. 2002). The aetiology and pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders is not fully understood, but it is known that inflammation and oxidative damage are a key component. Several studies, indeed, demonstrated that oxidative stress and neuroinflammatory responses can cause Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) break-down: the main cause of ischemia. Therefore, in an elderly subject living in a polluted environment, ischemic attacks may arise and this condition causes an increase in ROS. In this scenario, nutrition can modify the oxidant impacts, indeed a healthy diet with adequate intake of essential micronutrients with antioxidant properties may be crucial to prevent the development of chronic diseases. The identification of these micronutrients could be used to produce functional foods or nutritional supplements with specific health effects (Kähkönen et al. 1999). In particular, several epidemiological studies have revealed that polyphenol-rich diets can provide beneficial effects in humans and coffee has been described as probably the most relevant source of dietary antioxidant compounds (Martini et al. 2016). For these reasons, phytocomplexes derived from coffee modified by the intestinal microbiome (Dihydrocaffeic Acid, Dihydroferulic Acid, Dihydroferulic Acid-4-sulfate, Ferulic Acid-4-sulfate, Caffeic acid, Caffeic acid-3- glucuronie, Caffeic acid – 4- glucuronide, Dihydrocaffeic acid-3- glucuronide) have been used to test their antioxidant activities. Moreover, considering that BBB constitutes the cerebral vascular district with a fundamental role in CNS homeostasis and that injurious states can be triggered by the presence of ROS, the substances are tested on a blood-brain barrier model using rat brain endothelial cells (RBE4). Preliminary data show that RBE4 can be treated with different amount of different compounds, with statistically significance in activating antioxidant defence system after oxygen and glucose deprivation and reperfusion (OGD) a treatment mimicking the ischemia. Coffee metabolites appear to have an antioxidant power, especially when the metabolites are used in a mix reflecting the amount detected in the plasma after the coffee intake.