Differences in Metabolism of Ellagitannins by Human Gut Microbiota ex Vivo Cultures

Ellagitannin-rich plant materials are used as popular remedies in the treatment of various inflammatory diseases. Urolithins are gut microbiota metabolites of ellagitannins and are considered responsible for in vivo health effects. Various natural products have been studied that are known sources of urolithins. However, few studies have focused on the metabolism of ellagitannin molecules. The aim of the study was to examine the metabolic fate of select ellagitannins using ex vivo cultures of human gut microbiota. Fifteen monomeric and dimeric ellagitannins, 1-0-galloy1-4,6-(S)-HHDP-beta-D-glucose (2), pedunculagin (3), potentillin (4), casuarictin (5), coriariin B (6), vescalagin (7), castalagin (8), stachyurin (9), casuarinin (10), stenophyllinin A (11), stenophyllanin A (12), salicarinin A (13), gemin A (14), agrimoniin (15), and oenothein B (16), and ellagic acid (1) were studied. The formation of the metabolites in ex vivo human microbiota cultures was monitored using UHPLC-DAD-MS/MS. Ellagitannins possessing hexahydroxydiphenoyl moieties were metabolized to 6H-dibenzo[b,d]pyran-6-one derivatives, i.e., urolithins. The observed differences in amounts of produced urolithins indicated that the individual microbiota composition and type of ingested ellagitannins could determine the rate of urolithin production. When the oral ingestion of natural products containing ellagitannins with hexahydroxydiphenoyl groups is considered, the formation of urolithins and their bioactivity should be addressed.