Clinical Research Directory

Pomegranate Dietary Supplements in AUD and ALD

The goal of this project is to determine an individual's ability to generate active gut microbial metabolites called urolithins upon consumption of pomegranate dietary supplements. We, and others, reported that urolithins are the major active metabolites that are responsible for the beneficial activities that are rendered from eating pomegranates, berries, or walnuts. However, the production of urolithins from the parent compound ellagic acid (EA) is dependent upon the presence of certain bacteria in the human gut. In this trial, we propose to investigate variations in gut microbiota and their capacity to metabolize pomegranate dietary supplements (PDS) into active urolithins. We will measure the levels of urolithins in blood as well as inflammatory cytokines in plasma samples upon consumption of PDS.