Lignans and Gut Microbiota: An Interplay Revealing Potential Health Implications

Plant polyphenols are a broad group of bioactive compounds characterized by dierent\r\nchemical and structural properties, low bioavailability, and several in vitro biological activities.\r\nAmong these compounds, lignans (a non-flavonoid polyphenolic class found in plant foods for human\r\nnutrition) have been recently studied as potential modulators of the gut–brain axis. In particular,\r\ngut bacterial metabolism is able to convert dietary lignans into therapeutically relevant polyphenols\r\n(i.e., enterolignans), such as enterolactone and enterodiol. Enterolignans are characterized by\r\nvarious biologic activities, including tissue-specific estrogen receptor activation, together with\r\nanti-inflammatory and apoptotic eects. However, variation in enterolignans production by the gut\r\nmicrobiota is strictly related to both bioaccessibility and bioavailability of lignans through the entire\r\ngastrointestinal tract. Therefore, in this review, we summarized the most important dietary source of\r\nlignans, exploring the