Flavonoids and Related Compounds: Bioavailability and Function

Flavonoids exert a multiplicity of biological effects on humans and can have beneficial implications for numerous disease states. Flavonoids and Related Compounds: Bioavailability and Function examines current knowledge regarding the absorption, metabolism, and bioavailability of individual flavonoids and related phenolic compounds.

Profiling the latest evidence of their impact on various human pathological conditions, the book summarizes current thinking with regard to the biotransformation and conjugation of individual compounds in the gastrointestinal tract, liver, large intestine, and cells. It highlights a topic that has been largely ignored―namely the extent to which dietary phenolics components undergo metabolism in the large intestine. It also explores the generation of bacterially derived metabolites. Individual chapters discuss which metabolites enter the circulatory system and are likely to offer protective actions against human diseases.

Edited by internationally recognized leaders in the field, the book presents contributions by a panel of experts who demonstrate the potential of flavonoids in ameliorating a range of disease states, including cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, and cancer. The research presented in this volume provides a reliable starting point for further inquiry and experimentation.

Jeremy P. E. Spencer received his PhD degree from King’s College London in 1997 and is currently Professor of Nutritional Medicine at the University of Reading. His initial work focused on the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying neuronal death in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. His recent interests concern how flavonoids influence brain health through their interactions with specific cellular signaling pathways pivotal in protection against neurotoxins, in preventing euroinflammation, and in controlling memory, learning, and neurocognitive performance.

Alan Crozier

graduated from the University of Durham in the UK, and after completing postgraduate studies at the University of London, he moved to a postdoctoral position at the University of Calgary in Alberta. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow, working in the area of dietary flavonoids and phenolics. His research group has extensive national and international collaborations and is focused principally on teas, coffee, fruit juices, and wines, and the absorption and metabolism of a diversity of potentially protective polyphenolic compounds in the body.