Dissertation committee:
Prof. A.L. Skaltsounis, Assistant Prof. E. Gikas, Researcher B’ C. Tamvakopoulos, Prof. E. Mikros, Associate Prof. A. Tsarbopoulos, Associate Prof N. Thomaidis, Prof. J.L. Wolfender
Summary:
Olive derived substances occupy a central role in the diet of the Mediterranean
basin, with low occurrence of cardiovascular diseases and cancer incidents. It
is evidenced that such molecules (especially the secoiridoid oleuropein and the
polyphenol hydroxytyrosol) could play a significant role in the prevention of
the aforementioned as well as various other diseases, and could ameliorate the
human well being in terms of health status. Thus, their study is of paramount
importance.
The current scientific trends in the field of analytical chemistry enable the
in-depth exploration of their phytochemical properties, the characterization of
their fate after administration, as well as their impact on the systems biology
of the organism. In this context, integrated methodologies, covering all the
aforementioned aspects, need to be developed.
In the current PhD Thesis, as the sensitive determination of the examined
substances is highly desirable, a design of experiments approach has been
developed in order to optimize the analytical conditions for all the
methodologies that were developed thereafter. As the health effects of
oleuropein, as a herb medicinal product, consists a major concern, the total
quality of these formulations was explored, employing both targeted and
untargeted (multivariate) approaches. The administration of the aforementioned
oleuropein-based herb medical products in athletes, aiming to verify their
effect on the human redox status after exercise, have been studied using a
pharmacokinetic and a MS-based metabolomic approach. In the same context, the
administration of hydroxytyrosol in an induced metabolic syndrome rat model has
been performed. Furthermore, the metabolic fate (metabolism) of hydroxytyrosol
has been explored employing an MS-based approach, whereas a metabolomic-based
time series study has been used to gain insight of the substance’s fate and its
impact on the organism. In a parallel mode, administration of the total
polyphenolic fraction derived from olive oil, has been realized in order to
understand its impact on osteoporosis. The isolation of oleuropein has been
attempted using olive leafs as the source, whereas hydroxytyrosol was isolated
from olive oil mill wastes. Finally, the total polyphenolic fraction was
obtained from pure extra virgin olive oil.
Overall, in the current PhD Thesis, state of the art analytical techniques
along with cutting edge biological experiments have offered new knowledge on
the analytical and biochemical impact of the promising bioactive substances
from Olea europea.
Keywords:
Metabolomics, Design of experiments , Pharmacokinetics, Analysis, Olea europaea
