Metabolomic Changes after Coffee Consumption: New Paths on the Block

Scope Several studies suggest that regular coffee consumption may help preventing chronic diseases, but the impact of daily intake and the contribution of coffee metabolites in disease prevention are still unclear. The present study aimed at evaluating whether and how different patterns of coffee intake (one cup of espresso coffee/day, three cups of espresso coffee/day, one cup of espresso coffee/day and two cocoa-based products containing coffee two times per day) might impact endogenous molecular pathways. Methods and results A three-arm, randomized, cross-over trial was performed in 21 healthy volunteers who consumed each treatment for one month. Urine samples were collected to perform untargeted metabolomics based on UHPLC-IMS-HRMS. A total of 153 discriminant metabolites were identified. Several molecular features were associated with coffee consumption, while others were linked with different metabolic pathways, such as phenylalanine, tyrosine, energy metabolism, steroid hormone biosynthesis and arginine biosynthesis and metabolism. Conclusion This information has provided new insights into the metabolic routes by which coffee and coffee-related metabolites may exert effects on human health. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.