A comparative study of genoprotective activity of phenolic catabolites between normal and adenocarcinoma colonic cells in vitro

. (Poly)phenols are plant-derived bioactive compounds abundant in human diet, (1,2) that are largely metabolised to simpler phenolic catabolites upon ingestion (3 – 5) . These compounds have been attributed with several bene fi cial effects on human health, (4,6,7) but further analyses on the properties of these bioavailable catabolites is needed. To this end, four previously identi fi ed microbiota mediated phenolic catabolites were assessed for their anti-genotoxicity and ability to activate the Nrf2-pathway, which provides protection against oxidative stress. Normal and adenocarcinoma colonocyte cell lines were cultured with either 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (HBA), benzoic acid (BA), 3-(3-hydroxyphenyl