Every year on 14 November, The World Diabetes Day raises awareness about diabetes and highlights the importance of its prevention and management. As nutrition and lifestyle play an important role in maintaining metabolic health, understanding how the foods we eat and the bioactive compounds they contain, may influence our health has become an important area of scientific research.
This year, as part of the World Diabetes Day, the MSCA BioTransform doctoral network takes a closer look at the work of its doctoral researchers, who are exploring the potential health benefits of bioactive compounds found in olives and bilberries. Through laboratory-based gastrointestinal models and human intervention studies, they investigate how these compounds are transformed during digestion, how they interact with biological processes, and whether these interactions differ between individuals. Ultimately, their research aims to contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between nutrition and metabolic health, potentially supporting the development of more personalized nutritional strategies for diabetes prevention.
Exploring the relationship between bioactive compounds and metabolic health
Plant-derived compounds undergo several transformations after oral intake, potentially influencing their biological effects. But could supplements containing these compounds also contribute to improvements in metabolic health?
Christina Sykontimi and Anastasia Tsitsimeli (DC3 & DC4, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens) approach this from complementary perspectives. Christina investigates whether olive and bilberry supplementation can influence markers of oxidative stress and inflammation in people with prediabetes through a clinical study. Anastasia approaches the question from another perspective, studying how olive-derived compounds are transformed in the body and whether these processes differ between healthy individuals and those with prediabetes using different analytical techniques.
Exploring the relationship between nutrition and metabolic health through human studies
Understanding how dietary compounds interact with the human body requires more than studying their chemical composition. There is also a need to investigate how these compounds relate to biological processes in people. Klinta Luīze Sprūdža (DC5, Medical University of Graz) explores this through a human intervention study involving overweight, prediabetic people, as well as healthy controls. By assessing glucose metabolism, oxidative stress and inflammation, alongside nutritional intake and body composition, the study examines metabolic health from several perspectives. This research contributes to a better understanding of the potential role of plant-derived bioactives in supporting metabolic health and informing future nutritional strategies.
What happens to beneficial compounds from olives after we consume them? Do all individuals process these compounds in the same way?
Romit Kumar Subba (DC2, University of Antwerp) investigates how bioactive compounds from olives are transformed during digestion, focusing on potential differences between overweight individuals with prediabetes and across Central and Southern European populations. Using an in vitro model that simulates the human gastrointestinal system, he examines how these compounds are processed and he aims to identify the resulting metabolites using advanced analytical techniques.
On World Diabetes Day, it is important to recognize the role that research plays in improving our understanding of metabolic health and diabetes prevention. Through complementary laboratory and human studies, the BioTransform consortium strives for a better understanding of nutrition and metabolic health and with further research, these findings may contribute to more informed nutritional recommendations and strategies for reducing the risk of diabetes.