Metabolomics Reveals that Dietary Ferulic Acid and Quercetin Modulate Metabolic Homeostasis in Rats

Phenolic compounds ingestion has been shown to have potential preventive and therapeutic effects against various metabolic diseases such as obesity and cancer. To provide a better understanding of these potential benefit effects, we investigated the metabolic alterations in urine and feces of rat ingested ferulic acid (FA) and quercetin (Qu) using NMR-based metabolomics approach. Our results suggested that dietary FA and/or Qu significantly decreased short chain fatty acids and elevated oligosaccharides in the feces, implying that dietary FA and Qu may modulate gut microbial community with inhibition of bacterial fermentation of dietary fibers. We also found that dietary FA and/or Qu regulated several host metabolic pathways including TCA cycle and energy metabolism, bile acid, amino acid, and nucleic acid metabolism. These biological effects suggest that FA and Qu display outstanding bioavailability and bioactivity and could be used for treatment of some metabolic syndromes, such as inflammatory bowel diseases and obesity.