NeuroTOm: Neuroactive compounds and neurodegenerative diseases

Growing evidence points to the links between diet, gut, and neurodegenerative diseases (ND). Funded by the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions programme, the NeuroTOm project aims to understand the significance of exposure to neuroactive compounds in the diet. Using tomato as a food source, the study will elucidate the role of these chemicals in the gut-brain axis and the ND disease development after digestion. The neuroprotective and neurodisrupting compounds from organic, conventional, and processed tomatoes will be characterised by mass spectrometry. In vitro colon models will be employed to study the fate of these compounds in the gut and identify gut-microbial metabolites and their effect on intestinal epithelium cells.

 The project, worth 172,750 Euros, started in October 2022 and ended in October 2024: it’s time to take stock of the NeuroTOm project, funded by the European Union under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions and led by the Edmund Mach Foundation in collaboration with Wageningen University.

Under the supervision of Urska Vrhovsek and with the help of the GEF Metabolomics Unit team, postdoctoral fellow Ana Kovacic, a recipient of the grant, explored how neuroactive compounds in tomatoes can affect brain health through the gut-brain axis.

Neurodegenerative (ND) diseases are debilitating and largely untreatable conditions that affect millions worldwide, including more than 7 million Europeans. Although there remains no cure, there is growing evidence of a correlation between diet, gut, and ND diseases but a deeper understanding of what happens to neuroactive compounds once digested and their role in the communication between gut and brain is still missing. In response, NeuroTOm answers complex questions about human exposure to neuroactive compounds (using tomato as a model food), such as what happens to these chemicals during digestion and their role in the gut-brain axis and ND disease development.

In the first phase of activity, four types of tomatoes were analyzed (organic and conventional Italian tomatoes, vine tomatoes and processed tomatoes) in order to identify both neuroprotective compounds, such as polyphenols and amino acids, and substances requiring further study, such as food additives. These elements and their behavior were observed in a simulated digestion model to reproduce their pathway in the body.

The results of the project led by the Research and Innovation Centre suggest that certain substances, including tomatine and bisphenol S, can reach the colon and, from there, potentially influence the brain. The information and data obtained mark an important step forward in understanding the role that nutrition can play in preventing neurodegenerative diseases and open new perspectives for future research on diet and brain health. The work has also attracted wide interest within the international scientific community with the results recently presented at major sector conferences, including the Nordic Metabolomics Conference held in Turku, Finland, last August.

Sources: cri.fmach.it, corriereortofrutticolo.it, italiafruit.net

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