Appearance of green tea compounds in plasma following acute green tea consumption is modulated by the gut microbiome in mice.

Studies have suggested that phytochemicals in green tea have systemic anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects. However, the mechanisms behind these effects are poorly understood, possibly due to the differential metabolism of phytochemicals resulting from variations in gut microbiome composition. To unravel this complex relationship, our team utilized a novel combined microbiome analysis and metabolomics approach applied to low complexity microbiome (LCM) and human colonized (HU) gnotobiotic mice treated with an acute dose of powdered matcha green tea. A total of 20 LCM mice received 10 distinct human fecal slurries for an IMPORTANCE: Foods contain thousands of unique and biologically important compounds beyond the macro- and micro-nutrients listed on nutrition facts labels. In mammals, many of these compounds are metabolized or co-metabolized by the community of microbes in the colon. These microbes may impact the thousands of biologically important compounds we consume; therefore, understanding microbial metabolism of food compounds will be important for understanding how foods impact health. We used metabolomics to track green tea compounds in plasma of mice with and without complex microbiomes. From this, we can start to recognize certain groups of green tea-derived compounds that are impacted by mammalian microbiomes. This research presents a novel technique for understanding microbial metabolism of food-derived compounds in the gut, which can be applied to other foods.