Bioavailability of Quercetin in Humans with a Focus on Interindividual Variation
Almeida AF, Borge GIA, Piskula M, Valentova K, Williamson G, Santos CN
Published in Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety
Methodology
Systematic review of human intervention studies measuring quercetin conjugates and microbial catabolites in plasma and urine
Key Findings
Quercetin circulates only as glucuronide, methyl and sulfate conjugates. Interindividual variation is substantial and is larger for colonic microbiota-derived catabolites than for small-intestinal conjugates; high absorbers of intact conjugates may be low producers of microbial phenolics.
Conclusions
Quercetin bioavailability in humans is low and highly variable between individuals, which helps explain inconsistent clinical results.
Limitations
Most included studies had small numbers of volunteers; causes of interindividual variation remain unexplained.
Supplements Studied
there is less interindividual variation in metabolites which are derived from absorption in the small intestine compared to catabolites derived from the action of microbiota in the colon
Outcomes Measured
the substantial variation between different individuals in the measured quercetin bioavailability parameters
Study Details
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