Chairholder: Yves Desjardins

Chair duration: 5 years from May 1, 2018

Team: Denis Roy, Alain Veilleux, Emile Levy

Financial partners: Symrise (Diana Food Canada)

Keywords: polyphenols, berries, proanthocyanidins, microbiota, SHIME, organoids, mucus, Akkermansia, Bidifobacteria, bioavailability, metabolites

Abstract: To determine the reciprocal action of polyphenol-rich fruits and vegetables on the gut microbiota by employing metabolomics and metagenomics approaches. The overall objectives were to:
– Develop innovative technologies to extract, isolate and concentrate polyphenols from fruits and vegetables and their co-products;
– Determine the nature of microbial metabolites derived from colonic fermentation of polyphenols; identify metabo-types capable of metabolizing and potentiating polyphenols from INAF’s cropothèque (fecal sample bank);
– Verify the prebiotic effect of various fruit and vegetable extracts on the growth of beneficial colonic bacteria in an artificial digestive system.

Main spin-offs : The Chair’s research has increased our knowledge of the effect of new functional polyphenolic fractions extracted from fruits and vegetables on the intestine. It has led to a better understanding of :

• This research will help us to better understand
• the factors that determine inter-individual variability in the metabolism of these molecules, depending on the composition of the microbiota
• the dietary factors that help maintain metabolic functions and improve the barrier function of the intestine
  marketing of a prebiotic sold worldwide: Prebiocran.

Hyperlinks to some published works : 

•  Feldman, F., Koudoufio, M., Sané, A.T., Marcil, V., Foisy Sauvé M.,  Butcher, J., Patey, N., Martel, C., Spahis, S., Duan, H., Figeys, D., Desjardins,  Y.,  Stintzi,  A., Levy, E. (2025) Therapeutic potential of cranberry proanthocyanidins in addressing the pathophysiology of metabolic syndrome: a scrutiny of select mechanisms of action. Antioxidants, 14, 268. 
• Pulido Mateos, E.C., Lessard-Lord, J., Desjardins, Y., Roy, D. (2024) Lactiplantibacillus plantarum inter-strain variability in the production of bioactive phenolic metabolites from flavan-3-ols. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry  72: 39: 21677-21689.
• Cattero, V., Roussel, C., Lessard-Lord, J., Roy, D., and Desjardins, Y. (2024) Supplementation with a cranberry extract favour the establishment of butyrogenic guilds in the human fermentation SHIME^® system. Microbiome Res. Rep.3,
•  Lessard-Lord, J., Roussel, C., Lupien-Meilleur, J., Généreux, P., Richard, V., Guay, V., Roy, D., and Desjardins, Y. (2024) Short term supplementation with cranberry extract modulates gut microbiota in human displays a bifidogenic effect. Nature Biofilm & Microbiome. 10:18.  DOI.org/10.1038/s41522-024-00493-w
• Lessard-Lord, J., Roussel, C., Guay, V., and Desjardins, Y. (2024). Assessing the gut microbiota’s ability to metabolize oligomeric and polymeric flavan-3-ols from aronia and cranberry. Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.  E2300641. DOI.org/10.1002/mnfr.202300641
• Lessard-Lord, J., Lupien-Meilleur, J., Roussel, C., Gosselin-Cliché, B., Plante, P.-L., Silvestri, C., Di Marzo, V., Roy, D., Rousseau, E.  and Desjardins, Y. (2024) Mathematical modeling of fluid dynamics in in vitro gut fermentation systems: a new tool to improve the interpretation of microbial metabolism. The FASEB Journal.  E23398. dio.org/10.1096/fj.202301739RR
• Lessard-Lord, J., Roussel, C., Guay, V. and Desjardins, Y. (2023) Characterization of the Interindividual Variability Associated with the Microbial Metabolism of (−)-Epicatechin. J. Agric. Food Chem. 71, 13814–13827. doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.3c05491.
• Lessard-Lord, J., Auger, P., Demers, S., Plante, P.-L., Picard, P., and Desjardins, Y. (2023). Automated High-Throughput Quantification of Phenyl-γ-valerolactones and Creatinine in Urine by Laser Diode Thermal Desorption. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 44. Vol. 71, 16787-16796. doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.3c03888
• Medina-Larqué, A.-S., Rodriguez-Daza, M.-C., Roquim, M., Dudonné, S., Pilon, G., Levy, É., Marette, A., Roy, D., Jacques, H., and Desjardins, Y. (2022) Cranberry polyphenols and agave agavins impact gut immune response and microbiota composition while improving gut barrier function, inflammation, and glucose metabolism in mice fed an obesogenic diet. Front. Immunol. 13, 871080. doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.871080
• Pulido-Mateos, E.C., Lessard-Lord, J., Guyonnet, D., Desjardins, Y., and Roy, D. 2022. Comprehensive analysis of the metabolic and genomic features of tannin transforming Lactiplantibacillus plantarum strains. Scientific Reports. 12 (1): 22406. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-26005-4
• Feldman, F., Koudoufio, M., El-Jalbout, R., Foisy Sauvé, M., Ahmarani, L., Sané, A. T., El-Houda Ould-Chikh, N., N’Timbane, T., Patey, N., Desjardins, Y., Stintzi, A., Spahis, S., and Levy, E. (2022). Cranberry proanthocyanidines as a therapeutic strategy to curb metabolic syndrome and fatty liver-associated disorders. Antioxidants. DOI: 10.3390/antiox12010090
• Roussel, C., Chabaud, S., Lessard-Lord,  J., Cattero, V., Pellerin, F.-A., Feutry, P., Bochard, V.,  Bolduc, S., and Desjardins, Y. (2022) UPEC Colonic-Virulence and Urovirulence Are Blunted by Proanthocyanidins-Rich Cranberry Extract Microbial Metabolites in a Gut Model and a 3D Tissue-Engineered Urothelium. Microbiol. Spectr.10, e02432-21 (2022). doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.02432-21.
• Pulido-Mateos, EC; Lessard-Lord, J; Guyonnet, D; Desjardins, Y; Roy, D (2022) Comprehensive analysis of the metabolic and genomic features of tannin transforming Lactiplantibacillus plantarum strains. Scientific Reports: 12(1): 22496. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-26005-4
• Koudoufio, M., Feldman, F., Ahmarani, L., Delvin, E., Spahis, S., Desjardins, Y. and Levy, E. (2021). Intestinal protection by proanthocyanidins involves anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory actions in association with an improvement of insulin sensitivity, lipid and glucose homeostasis. Sci Rep. 11(1):3878. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-80587-5
• Rodríguez-Daza,M.C., Pulido Mateos, E. C., Lupien-Meilleur, J., Guyonnet, D., Desjardins, Y. and Roy, D. (2021). (Poly)phenol-mediated gut microbiota modulation: toward prebiotics and further. Frontiers in Nutrition. *: 689456 doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2021.68
• Feldman, F., Koudoufio, M., Desjardins, Y., Spahis, S., Delvin, E. and Levy, E. (2021). Efficacy of Polyphenols in the Management of Dyslipidemia: A Focus on Clinical Studies. Nutrients 13 (2), 672. doi.org/10.3390/nu13020672
• Koudoufio, M., Desjardins, Y., Feldman, F., Spahis, S., Delvin, E. and Levy, E. (2020). Insight into polyphenol and gut microbiota crosstalk: Are their metabolites the key to understand protective effects against metabolic disorders? Antioxidants, 9(10): doi.org/10.3390/antiox9100982
• Denis, M.-C., Dubé, P., Dudonné, S., Desjardins, Y., Matei, C., Delvin, E., Levy, É. and Furtos, A. (2020). Characterization of bioactive cranberry fractions by mass spectrometry. Can. J. Chem.. doi.org/10.1139/cjc-2020-0070.
• Medina-Larqué, A. S., Desjardins, Y. and Jacques, H. (2020). Chap. 24. Cranberry, oxidative stress, inflammatory markers, and insulin sensitivity. In Diabetes Oxidative Stress and Dietary Antioxidants, pp. 245-251, 2nd ed., Preedy V.R. Ed., Elsevier Academic Press. ISBN: 978-0-12-815776-3. doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-815776-3.00024-3
• Rodriguez-Daza, M C, L Daoust, L Boutkrabt, G Pilon, Thibault Varin, S Dudonné, E Levy, A Marette, D Roy, and Y Desjardins. (2020) Wild Blueberry Proanthocyanidins Shape Distinct Gut Microbiota Profile and Influence Glucose Homeostasis and Intestinal Phenotypes in High-Fat High-Sucrose Fed Mice. Scientific Reports. 10:2217. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58863-1