Novel Natural Products for Healthy Ageing from the Mediterranean Diet and Food Plants of Other Global Sources-The MediHealth Project

Molecules. 2018 May 6;23(5). pii: E1097. doi: 10.3390/molecules23051097. Waltenberger B1, Halabalaki M2, Schwaiger S3, Adamopoulos N4, Allouche N5, Fiebich BL6, Hermans N7, Jansen-Dürr P8, Kesternich V9, Pieters L10, Schönbichler S11, Skaltsounis AL12, Tran H13, Trougakos IP14, Viljoen A15, Wolfender JL16, Wolfrum C17, Xynos N18, Stuppner H19. Author information 1 Institute of Pharmacy/Pharmacognosy and Center for Molecular Biosciences Innsbruck (CMBI), University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria. birgit.waltenberger@uibk.ac.at. 2 Department of Pharmacognosy and Natural Products Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15771 Athens, Greece. mariahal@pharm.uoa.gr. 3 Institute of Pharmacy/Pharmacognosy and Center for Molecular Biosciences Innsbruck (CMBI), University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria. stefan.schwaiger@uibk.ac.at. 4 Department of New Business Development, Galenica SA, 14564 Kiffisia, Greece. nbd@galenica.gr. 5 Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Natural Substances Team, Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, University of Sfax, PB 1171, 3000 Sfax, Tunisia. noureddineallouche@yahoo.fr. 6 Department of Research and Development, VivaCell Biotechnology GmbH, 79211 Denzlingen, Germany. fiebich@vivacell.de. 7 Natural Products and Food Research and Analysis (NatuRA), Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium. nina.hermans@uantwerpen.be. 8 Institute of Biomedical Aging Research and CMBI, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria. pidder.jansen-duerr@uibk.ac.at. 9 Department of Chemistry, Catholic University of the North, Casilla, Antofagasta 1280, Chile. vkestern@ucn.cl. 10 Natural Products and Food Research and Analysis (NatuRA), Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium. luc.pieters@uantwerpen.be. 11 Department of Analytical Research, Bionorica research GmbH, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria. stefan.schoenbichler@bionorica.at. 12 Department of Pharmacognosy and Natural Products Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15771 Athens, Greece. skaltsounis@pharm.uoa.gr. 13 Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam. tranhung@uphcm.edu.vn. 14 Department of Cell Biology and Biophysics, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Athens, Greece. itrougakos@biol.uoa.gr. 15 Center for Natural Products in Drug Development, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria 0001, South Africa. viljoenam@tut.ac.za. 16 Phytochemistry and Bioactive Natural Products and Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, EPGL, University of Geneva, University of Lausanne, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland. jean-luc.wolfender@unige.ch. 17 Department of Health Science and Technology, Laboratory of Translational Nutrition Biology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich, 8603 Schwerzenbach, Switzerland. christian-wolfrum@ethz.ch. 18 Department of Research and Development, Rousselet Centrifugation SA, 07100 Annonay, France. nxynos@kromaton.com. 19 Institute of Pharmacy/Pharmacognosy and Center for Molecular Biosciences Innsbruck (CMBI), University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria. hermann.stuppner@uibk.ac.at. Abstract There is a rapid increase in the percentage of elderly people in Europe. Consequently, the prevalence of age-related diseases will also significantly increase. Therefore, the main goal of MediHealth, an international research project, is to introduce a novel approach for the discovery of active agents of food plants from the Mediterranean diet and other global sources that promote healthy ageing. To achieve this goal, a series of plants from the Mediterranean diet and food plants from other origins are carefully selected and subjected to in silico, cell-based, in vivo (fly and mouse models), and metabolism analyses. Advanced analytical techniques complement the bio-evaluation process for the efficient isolation and identification of the bioactive plant constituents. Furthermore, pharmacological profiling of bioactive natural products, as well as the identification and synthesis of their metabolites, is carried out. Finally, optimization studies are performed in order to proceed to the development of innovative nutraceuticals, dietary supplements or herbal medicinal products. The project is based on an exchange of researchers between nine universities and four companies from European and non-European countries, exploiting the existing complementary multidisciplinary expertise. Herein, the unique and novel approach of this interdisciplinary project is presented. KEYWORDS: MediHealth; Mediterranean diet; bioavailability; food plants; healthy ageing; metabolites; natural products; pharmacology; phytochemistry; synthetic chemistry PMID: 29734769 DOI: 10.3390/molecules23051097 Free full text http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/23/5/1097