Ulcerative colitis (UC), which is a major form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), is a chronic relapsing disorder of the gastrointestinal tract affecting millions of people worldwide. Alternative natural therapies, including dietary changes, are being investigated to manage or treat UC since current treatment options have serious negative side effects. There is growing evidence from animal studies and human clinical trials that diets rich in anthocyanins, which are pigments in fruits and vegetables, protect against inflammation and increased gut permeability as well as improve colon health through their ability to alter bacterial metabolism and the microbial milieu within the intestines. In this review, the structure and bioactivity of anthocyanins, the role of inflammation and gut bacterial dysbiosis in UC pathogenesis, and their regulation by the dietary anthocyanins are discussed, which suggests the feasibility of dietary strategies for UC mitigation.

Piglet weaning is accompanied by gastrointestinal tract (GIT) dysfunction, resulting in post-weaning diarrhea (PWD). The treatment involves antibiotics due to the susceptibility of the weaned GIT to pathogens. However, antibiotic resistance has shifted attitudes toward a nutraceutical approach by enriching feed with functional compounds. Polyphenols are touted for their antimicrobial activity and ability to improve GIT function. Thus, we investigated the protective effects of crude blueberry phenolic extracts (BPE) in vitro using porcine cells challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) as a weaning model. Cells were pretreated with 1 µg/mL and 2.5 µg/mL BPE for 24 h, followed by 10 µg/mL LPS stimulation for 6 h. Antioxidant status, paracellular permeability, the gene expression of proinflammatory cytokines, and tight junction proteins were measured. The antimicrobial activity of the extract was evaluated against porcine pathogens. The pretreatment of cells with 1 µg/mL BPE preserved catalase (CAT) activity. Reduced paracellular permeability was observed in a dose-dependent manner. The BPE preserved the relative mRNA abundance of tight junctions and reduced inflammatory cytokine expression. Pretreatment with the BPE was able to preserve occludin (OCLN) protein levels. The minimum inhibitory concentration of the BPE against Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) and Salmonella typhimurium (ST) was 62.50 µg/mL. These findings indicate that blueberry polyphenols hold potential as feed additives in swine weaning.

Previous research showed that canary seed (Phalaris canariensis L.) peptides (CSP) possess robust in vitro antiobesity properties via inhibition of pancreatic lipase (PL). Nevertheless, no studies have yet explored their antiobesity properties in vivo. Consequently, we investigated the effects of CSP in C57BL/6J mice under a Western diet (WD). Mice were assigned into groups and fed a normal diet (ND) or a WD accompanied by an oral dose of CSP (250 or 500 mg/kg/day), orlistat (40 mg/kg/day), or distilled water. The results showed that consuming CSP can provide metabolic benefits, including preventing weight gain by up to 20%, increasing glucose tolerance, and reducing insulin, leptin, and LDL/VLDL levels in plasma. Conversely, total ghrelin was unaffected by CSP-500, but decreased by CSP-250, and amplified by orlistat. Surprisingly, CSP-250 was more effective in preventing weight gain and promoting satiety than CSP-500. Parallel to this, protein absorption in CSP-500 was decreased, supported by a rise in fecal crude protein (+3.5%). Similarly, fecal fat was increased by orlistat (38%) and was unaffected by CSP-250 (3.0%) and CSP (3.0%), comparatively to WD (2.5%). Despite this, both CSP treatments were equally effective in decreasing hepatic steatosis and avoiding hyperlipidemia. Furthermore, the enzymatic analysis showed that CSP-PL complexes dissociated faster (15 min) than orlistat-PL complexes (41 min). Lastly, CSP did not affect expression of hepatic lipid oxidation genes ACO and PPAR-α, but reduced the expression of the hydrolase gene LPL, and lipogenesis related genes FAS and ACC. Taken together, these results suggest that CSP antiobesity mechanism relies on lipid metabolism retardation to increase fat transit time and subsequently suppress hunger.

The implications of soy consumption on human health have been a subject of debate, largely due to the mixed evidence regarding its benefits and potential risks. The variability in responses to soy has been partly attributed to differences in the metabolism of soy isoflavones, compounds with structural similarities to estrogen. Approximately one-third of humans possess gut bacteria capable of converting soy isoflavone daidzein into equol, a metabolite produced exclusively by gut microbiota with significant estrogenic potency. In contrast, lab-raised rodents are efficient equol producers, except for those raised germ-free. This discrepancy raises concerns about the applicability of traditional rodent models to humans. Herein, we designed a gnotobiotic mouse model to differentiate between equol producers and non-producers by introducing synthetic bacterial communities with and without the equol-producing capacity into female and male germ-free mice. These gnotobiotic mice display equol-producing phenotypes consistent with the capacity of the gut microbiota received. Our findings confirm the model’s efficacy in mimicking human equol production capacity, offering a promising tool for future studies to explore the relationship between endogenous equol production and health outcomes like cardiometabolic health and fertility. This approach aims to refine dietary guidelines by considering individual microbiome differences.