David
Vauzour
David Vauzour
UK - Norwich
Biography
Dr David VAUZOUR is an Associate Professor in Molecular Nutrition at the Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, UK. Dr Vauzour has longstanding interest on the impact of food bioactives on (neuro)degenerative disorders and to develop novel strategies to delay brain ageing and cognitive decline. His recent interests concern how food bioactives modulate the gut microbiome-brain axis in ageing and neurodegenerative disorders and their underlying molecular mechanisms. To date Dr Vauzour has published over 100 peer reviewed articles and currently serves as the Associate Editor for the journals “Nutrition and Healthy Aging”, Frontiers in Neuroscience – Gut Brain axis and Frontiers in Nutrition – Nutrition and Brain Health. In addition, he is a member of the editorial board of “Nature Scientific Reports (Neuroscience)”, PharmaNutrition and “Peer J (Pharmacology)” and currently sits on the ILSI Europe Scientific Advisory Committee.
Affiliations
- Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia
- ILSI Europe Scientific Advisory Committee
- Member of 'Lifestyle, Diet, Wine & Health' Scientific Committee
- ILSI Europe Scientific Advisory Committee
- Member of 'Lifestyle, Diet, Wine & Health' Scientific Committee
Areas of expertise
- Molecular nutrition
Abstract
The hallmarks of a healthy aging
The hallmarks of healthy ageing: Impact of polyphenols on brain functions through the gut-brain axis modulation
Accumulating evidence suggests that diet and lifestyle can play an important role in delaying the onset or halting the progression of age-related health disorders and to improve cognitive function. A growing number of dietary intervention studies in humans and animals and in particular those using polyphenols, have been proposed to exert a multiplicity of neuroprotective actions within the brain. Recently, tremendous progress has been made in characterising the bidirectional interactions between the central nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract. This concept of a microbiome–gut–brain axis suggests that modulation of the gut microbiota is a tractable approach for developing novel strategies for the regulation of overall brain function. Such findings argue in favour of an approach of modulating the microbiome and indirectly brain functions with dietary interventions containing defined nutrients and food bioactives designed to promote healthier ageing. Amongst those nutrients, polyphenols have been consistently reported to play a protective role against cognitive decline and have the ability to modify the microbiome composition and metabolism.
Thus, the purpose of this presentation is to provide an overview the regulation of cognitive functions by dietary polyphenols and to present some of their molecular mechanisms of action, including a potential to modulate the gut microbiota, to protect neurons against injury induced by neurotoxins, an ability to suppress neuroinflammation. Altogether, these processes act to maintain brain homeostasis and play important roles in neuronal stress adaptation and thus polyphenols might have the potential to prevent the progression of neurodegenerative pathologies.
Accumulating evidence suggests that diet and lifestyle can play an important role in delaying the onset or halting the progression of age-related health disorders and to improve cognitive function. A growing number of dietary intervention studies in humans and animals and in particular those using polyphenols, have been proposed to exert a multiplicity of neuroprotective actions within the brain. Recently, tremendous progress has been made in characterising the bidirectional interactions between the central nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract. This concept of a microbiome–gut–brain axis suggests that modulation of the gut microbiota is a tractable approach for developing novel strategies for the regulation of overall brain function. Such findings argue in favour of an approach of modulating the microbiome and indirectly brain functions with dietary interventions containing defined nutrients and food bioactives designed to promote healthier ageing. Amongst those nutrients, polyphenols have been consistently reported to play a protective role against cognitive decline and have the ability to modify the microbiome composition and metabolism.
Thus, the purpose of this presentation is to provide an overview the regulation of cognitive functions by dietary polyphenols and to present some of their molecular mechanisms of action, including a potential to modulate the gut microbiota, to protect neurons against injury induced by neurotoxins, an ability to suppress neuroinflammation. Altogether, these processes act to maintain brain homeostasis and play important roles in neuronal stress adaptation and thus polyphenols might have the potential to prevent the progression of neurodegenerative pathologies.