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Unsuccessful Detection of Plant MicroRNAs in Beer, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Human Plasma After an Acute Ingestion of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

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Abstract

The recent description of the presence of exogenous plant microRNAs from rice in human plasma had profound implications for the interpretation of microRNAs function in human health. If validated, these results suggest that food should not be considered only as a macronutrient and micronutrient supplier but it could also be a way of genomic interchange between kingdoms. Subsequently, several studies have tried to replicate these results in rice and other plant foods and most of them have failed to find plant microRNAs in human plasma. In this scenario, we aimed to detect plant microRNAs in beer and extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) - two plant-derived liquid products frequently consumed in Spain - as well as in human plasma after an acute ingestion of EVOO. Our hypothesis was that microRNAs present in beer and EVOO raw material could survive manufacturing processes, be part of these liquid products, be absorbed by human gut and circulate in human plasma. To test this hypothesis, we first optimized the microRNA extraction protocol to extract microRNAs from beer and EVOO, and then tried to detect microRNAs in those samples and in plasma samples of healthy volunteers after an acute ingestion of EVOO.

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Abbreviations

EVOO:

Extra virgin olive oil

NGS:

Next generation sequencing

NTC:

Non-template control

TMD:

Traditional mediterranean diet

RT-qPCR:

Real-time quantitative PCR

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Acknowledgments

The present work was funded by the Fundación Cerveza y Salud, Fundación Salud 2000 – Merck-Serono research fellowship and Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI14/01374). VM was supported by a Manuel de Oya fellowship of the Fundación Cerveza y Salud. LD and JMO conceived the study idea and designed the research. VM carried out experimental approaches. LD and MAL conducted the intervention study. RM and LD carried out the sequencing analyses. LD and VM wrote the manuscript and all authors assisted in manuscript revision and approved it.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Genómica Nutricional de la Enfermedad Cardiovascular y la Obesidad. Fundación IMDEA Alimentación, CEI UAM + CSIC, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Victor Micó, Roberto Martín, Jose M. Ordovás & Lidia Daimiel

  2. Servicio de Bioquímica-Investigación, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigación Sanitaria (IRyCIS), E-28034, Madrid, Spain

    Miguel A. Lasunción

  3. Nutrition and Genomics Laboratory, JM-USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, MA, -02111, USA

    Jose M. Ordovás

Authors
  1. Victor Micó
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  2. Roberto Martín
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  3. Miguel A. Lasunción
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  4. Jose M. Ordovás
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  5. Lidia Daimiel
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Correspondence to Lidia Daimiel.

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Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests. However it worths mentioning that part of this work has been funded by Fundación Cerveza y Salud that is a non-profit scientific organization aimed to study the relationship between beer consumption and health.

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Micó, V., Martín, R., Lasunción, M.A. et al. Unsuccessful Detection of Plant MicroRNAs in Beer, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Human Plasma After an Acute Ingestion of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 71, 102–108 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-016-0534-9

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