O038 - WILD BLUEBERRY POLYPHENOLS AND TELOMERE PRESERVATION IN METABOLIC SYNDROME: INTEGRATING CELLULAR AND CLINICAL EVIDENCE

O038

WILD BLUEBERRY POLYPHENOLS AND TELOMERE PRESERVATION IN METABOLIC SYNDROME: INTEGRATING CELLULAR AND CLINICAL EVIDENCE

M. Rendine^1,2,*, C. Del Bo'¹, P. Riso¹, P. Møller²

¹Division of Human Nutrition, Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences , Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy, ²Section of Environmental Health, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Rationale: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with oxidative stress and chronic inflammation that may accelerate telomere shortening. Whether wild blueberry (WB) (poly)phenols (PPs) and their circulating metabolites can modulate telomere dynamics in MetS remains unknown.

Methods: THP-1 cells were exposed to a MetS stimulus (oleic acid:palmitic acid 2:1, 500 µM plus tumor necrosis factor-α 1 ng/mL) for 72 h, following a 24 h pre-treatment with WB plasma metabolites: ferulic acid (FA), isoferulic acid (IA), vanillic acid (VA), hippuric acid (HA), or a mixture of all four metabolites (mix). Telomere length (TL) was quantified by qPCR (T/S ratio). In parallel, 21 adults with MetS completed an 8-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover intervention with WB (30 g freeze-dried powder/day, ~738 mg PPs) or a matched placebo, separated by an 8-week washout. Leukocyte TL was measured pre- and post-interventions. Data from the clinical trial were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA. Cellular experiments were analyzed by one-way ANOVA with Fisher’s LSD post hoc test. For all analyses, p < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: MetS stimulus significantly reduced TL in THP-1 cells (mean difference: –0.605; p < 0.001). Treatment with FA (1 µM), VA (0.5–5 µM), and the mix attenuated telomere shortening (mean differences: 0.346–0.365; p < 0.05). In the human trial, WB intervention led to a significant change in leukocyte TL compared with placebo, as evidenced by a significant time × treatment interaction (p < 0.05), corresponding to a between-group difference in ΔTL of +0.40 (WB: +0.23 ± 0.56; placebo: −0.17 ± 0.65).

Conclusion: WB-derived PPs partially protect against telomere attrition in a cellular MetS model. Consistently, WB consumption may help preserve leukocyte telomere dynamics in adults with MetS, providing rationale for further investigation in broader clinical trials.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared