Bioavailability of Hesperidine and Narirutin From Orange Juice to Identify Metabotypes in Hypertension

Flavonoids are polyphenolic compound mainly found in fruits and vegetables with numerous beneficial health effects as protection against cardiovascular diseases by an antihypertensive effect. The intestinal microbiota plays a key role in the metabolization of these compounds, so that differences in the composition and activity of the microbiota between individuals can generate different metabotypes. Flavonoids are found mainly in their conjugated form linked to the monosaccharide rhamnose and need to be metabolized by the intestinal bacteria, releasing the rhamnose, to be absorbed and, thus, bioactive. The bacterial enzyme responsible of rhamnose hydrolysis is α-L-rhamnosidase, whose activity can vary considerably depending on the composition of the microbiota. In fact, a great interindividual variability has been observed in the ability to absorb flavonoids, which allows to classify individuals according to the corresponding metabotype. In a previous project, the investigators confirmed the interindividual differences in the bioavailability of hesperidin and narirutin, two flavonoids naturally present in orange juice. However, the role of the intestinal microbiota in the metabolism of hesperidin and narirutin needs to be elucidated. On this basis, the following hypothesis is presented: individuals with arterial hypertension can be classified into 3 different metabotypes that are the result of the ability to absorb hesperidin and narirutin, determined by the urinary excretion of their respective metabolites, and these metabotypes are associated with different microbiota enterotypes and with different fecal α-L-rhamnosidase activity.