The metabolome of [2-(14)C](-)-epicatechin in humans: implications for the assessment of efficacy, safety, and mechanisms of action of polyphenolic bioactives.

ABSTRACT: Diet is a major life style factor affecting human health, thus emphasizing the need for evidence-based dietary guidelines for primary disease prevention. While current recommendations promote intake of fruit and vegetables, we have limited understanding of plant-derived bioactive food constituents other than those representing the small number of essential nutrients and minerals. This limited understanding can be attributed to some extent to a lack of fundamental data describing the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) of bioactive compounds. Consequently, we selected the flavanol (-)-epicatechin (EC) as an example of a widely studied bioactive food constituent and investigated the ADME of [2-(14)C](-)-epicatechin (300 μCi, 60 mg) in humans (n = 8). We demonstrated tha

SUBMITTER: Ottaviani JI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4929566 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature