Metabolic syndrome is a clustering of interrelated risk factors for cardiovascular
disease and diabetes. Hydroxytyrosol (HT) is a single phenol and it is present in
large amount in byproducts from olives. An experimental protocol has been setup encompassing
isolated HT administration in a diet induced rat model of metabolic syndrome. The
first step was the investigation of the PK/PD of HT in plasma and tissues. As HT does
not circulate anymore 30min after the administration, it was pertinent to investigate
its metabolic fate. Thus, targeted identification of circulating in plasma HT metabolites was performed using the mass
defect filter technique. Additionally, an untargeted approach has been attempted on the PK plasma samples and new biomarkers related to
HT administration have been identified. The aforementioned metabonomic methodology
has been applied to the samples from the metabolic syndrome model in order to discern
differences in the biochemistry within groups. HT supplementation for 8 weeks reduced
visceral obesity and was associated with improved left ventricular structure and function,
reduced blood pressure, improved glucose disposal and reduced hepatic steatosis and
infiltration of inflammatory cells into the liver. Data of the targeted and untargeted
approaches will be presented.
