Background In many cocoa intervention studies, health outcomes are related to cocoa components without taking into account the bioavailability of the main bioactive components: phenolic compounds and methylxanthines. Methods The present work associates the results of bioavailability and randomised controlled crossover studies in humans carried out with similar cocoa products, so that the main phenol and methylxanthine metabolites observed in plasma and urine are associated to the health effects observed in the chronic studies. We outstand that doses of cocoa and consumption rate used are realistic. In the bioavailability study, a conventional (CC) and a methylxanthine-polyphenol rich (MPC) cocoa product were used, whereas in the chronic study a dietary fibre-rich (DFC) and a polyphenol-rich (PC) product were studied in healthy and cardiovascular risk subjects. Results and Discussion The main phenolic metabolites formed after CC and MPC intake, 5-(4′-hydroxyphenyl)-γ-valerolactone-3′-sulfate, 3′-methyl-epicatechin-5-sulfate, 4-hydroxy-5-(4′-hydroxyphenyl)valeric acid-sulfate, 5-phenyl-γ-valerolactone--sulfate and 5-(4′-hydroxyphenyl)-γ-valerolactone-3′-glucuronide, may contribute to the changes in cholesterol (and indirectly HDL-cholesterol) observed after the regular intake of both DFC and PC, in healthy and cardiovascular risk subjects, whereas 7-methylxanthine (the main cocoa methylxanthine metabolite) and theobromine, together with its content in insoluble dietary fibre, may be responsible for the decrease of IL-1β and hypoglycemic effects observed with DFC. With both phenolic and methylxanthine metabolites a strong dose–response effect was observed. Conclusion After the regular consumption of both DFC and PC, positive changes were observed in volunteer’s lipid profile, which may be related to the long-lasting presence of colonic phenolic metabolites in blood. In contrast, the anti-inflammatory and hypoglycemic effects were only observed with DFC, and these may be related to methylxanthine metabolites, and it is likely that insoluble dietary fibre may have also played a role.

中文翻译：

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可可结肠酚代谢物与高密度脂蛋白胆固醇升高作用有关，甲基黄嘌呤代谢物和不溶性膳食纤维与人体抗炎和降血糖作用有关


背景 在许多可可干预研究中，健康结果与可可成分相关，但没有考虑主要生物活性成分：酚类化合物和甲基黄嘌呤的生物利用度。方法目前的工作将人体生物利用度和随机对照交叉研究的结果与类似的可可产品相关联，以便血浆和尿液中观察到的主要苯酚和甲基黄嘌呤代谢物与长期研究中观察到的健康影响相关。我们强调，可可的剂量和消耗率是现实的。在生物利用度研究中，使用了传统（CC）和富含甲基黄嘌呤多酚（MPC）的可可产品，而在长期研究中，在健康人群中研究了富含膳食纤维（DFC）和富含多酚（PC）的产品。和心血管风险受试者。结果与讨论 CC和MPC摄入后形成的主要酚类代谢物为5-(4'-羟基苯基)-γ-戊内酯-3'-硫酸盐、3'-甲基-表儿茶素-5-硫酸盐、4-羟基-5-( 4′-羟基苯基）戊酸硫酸盐、5-苯基-γ-戊内酯-硫酸盐和 5-（4′-羟基苯基）-γ-戊内酯-3′-葡萄糖醛酸，可能会导致胆固醇（以及间接 HDL）的变化在健康和心血管风险受试者中，定期摄入 DFC 和 PC 后观察到胆固醇），而 7-甲基黄嘌呤（可可甲基黄嘌呤的主要代谢物）和可可碱及其在不溶性膳食纤维中的含量可能是导致胆固醇下降的原因使用 DFC 观察到的 IL-1β 和降血糖作用。酚类和甲基黄嘌呤代谢物均观察到强烈的剂量反应效应。 结论 定期食用DFC和PC后，志愿者的血脂谱出现了积极的变化，这可能与血液中结肠酚类代谢物的长期存在有关。相比之下，仅在DFC中观察到抗炎和降血糖作用，这些作用可能与甲基黄嘌呤代谢物有关，并且不溶性膳食纤维很可能也发挥了作用。