Anandh Babu Pon Velayutham

• PhD
• Associate Professor at University of Utah

Evidence suggests that a healthy gut microbiome is essential for metabolizing dietary phytochemicals. However, the microbiome’s role in metabolite production and the influence of gut dysbiosis on this process remain unclear. Further, studies on the relationship among gut microbes, metabolites, and biological activities of phytochemicals are limited...

Scope Gut microbiota depletion using antibiotics in drinking water is a valuable tool to investigate the role of gut microbes and microbial metabolites in health and disease. However, there are challenges associated with this model. Animals avoid drinking water because of the antibiotic bitterness, which affects their metabolic health. The present...

Gut microbes play a pivotal role in host physiology by producing beneficial or detrimental metabolites. Gut bacteria metabolize dietary choline and L‐carnitine to trimethylamine (TMA) which is then converted to trimethylamine‐N‐oxide (TMAO). An elevated circulating TMAO is associated with diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in hum...

Gut microbiota modulates host physiology and pathophysiology through the production of microbial metabolites. Diet is a crucial factor in shaping the microbiome, and gut microbes interact with the host by producing beneficial or detrimental diet-derived microbial metabolites. Evidence from our lab and others indicates that the interaction between d...

Background and aims: Cancers of the alimentary tract including esophageal adenocarcinomas, colorectal cancers, and cancers of the gastric cardia are common comorbidities of obesity. Prolonged, excessive delivery of macronutrients to the cells lining the gut can increase one's risk for these cancers by inducing imbalances in the rate of intestinal...

Evidence from our lab and others indicates the vascular effects of dietary blueberries. In the present study, we determined dietary blueberries’ dose- and time-dependent effects on diabetic vasculature and their association with gut microbes. Seven-week-old db/db diabetic male mice were fed a diet supplemented with ± freeze-dried wild blueberry pow...

Emerging evidence indicates the association between an unhealthy gut and chronic diseases. A healthy gut comprises an intact gut epithelium and balanced gut microbes. Diet is one of the critical factors that modulate gut health by positively or negatively affecting the intestinal barrier and gut microbes. Blueberries are an excellent source of heal...

Background: Evidence indicates a link between the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and the gut microbiome. However, the regulation of microbial metabolic pathways and the associations of bacterial species with dietary factors in T1D are largely unknown. We investigated whether microbial metagenomic signatures in adolescents with T1D are assoc...

Mol. Nutr. Food Res. 2022, 66, 202200112 DOI: 10.1002/mnfr.202200112 In article 2200112, Pon Velayutham Anandh Babu and co‐workers show that dietary supplementation of strawberries reduces vascular complications in an animal model of metabolic syndrome, which is associated with changes in gut microbiota composition.

Scope Metabolic syndrome (MetS) alters the gut microbial ecology and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. This study investigates whether strawberry consumption reduces vascular complications in an animal model of MetS and identifies whether this effect is associated with changes in the composition of gut microbes. Methods and results Sev...

The area of research on the health benefits of berries, their bioactive compounds and their related metabolites has exploded in the last 20 years resulting in new knowledge in the understanding of their metabolism, molecular mode of action as well as their clinical significance in promoting health and preventing chronic disease. Berries and Berry B...

Ectopic ceramide accumulation in insulin-responsive tissues contributes to the development of obesity and impairs insulin sensitivity. Moreover, pharmacological inhibition of serine palmitoyl transferase (SPT), the first enzyme essential for ceramide biosynthesis using myriocin in rodents reduces body weight and improves insulin sensitivity and ass...

Background: Evidence indicates that a high fat diet can promote gut inflammation and increase gut permeability. The use of antibiotics further exacerbates these complications and can lead to the development of inflammatory bowel disease. Blueberries are rich in bioactive components such as anthocyanins. We recently reported the vascular and prebio...

Background: Evidence suggests that the pathogenesis and development of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) are driven by both genetic predisposition and immune dysfunction which may be influenced by gut microbiota. The present study aimed to investigate the composition and functional pathways of the gut microbiome in adolescents with T1D, determine the associat...

Objective and hypothesis: The importance of endothelial cell (EC) autophagy to vascular homeostasis in the context of health and disease is evolving. Earlier we reported that intact EC autophagy is requisite to maintain shear-stress-induced nitric oxide (NO) generation via glycolysis-dependent purinergic signaling to eNOS. Here we illustrate the t...

Background: Aging is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, which are major causes of disability and mortality in the elderly. Endothelial dysfunction and an imbalanced gut microbial ecology play a pivotal role in aging-associated vascular complications. Dietary change may be an effective strategy to improve vascular health. In this study, we...

Background: Evidence from our lab and others showed the vascular beneficial effects of dietary blueberries. However, dose- and time-dependent effect of dietary blueberries on vascular complications in diabetes and the role of gut microbes in mediating this effect are unknown. We hypothesize that gut microbes are associated with the dose- and time-...

Aim The importance of endothelial cell (EC) autophagy to vascular homeostasis in the context of health and disease is evolving. Earlier we reported that intact EC autophagy is requisite to maintain shear-stress-induced nitric oxide (NO) generation via glycolysis-dependent purinergic signaling to eNOS. Here we illustrate the translational and functi...

Mol. Nutr. Food Res. 2022, 66, 202100784 DOI: 10.1002/mnfr.202100784 Dietary supplementation of blueberry suppresses vascular inflammation, improves vascular dysfunction and increases the abundance of commensal microbes in diabetic mice. The circulating metabolites of blueberry appear to exert benefits on the endothelium by mediating NOX signaling....

Scope In diabetes, endothelial inflammation and dysfunction play a pivotal role in the development of vascular disease. This study investigates the effect of dietary blueberries on vascular complications and gut microbiome in diabetic mice. Methods and Results Seven‐week‐old diabetic db/db mice consume a standard diet (db/db) or a diet supplemente...

Resveratrol, a natural compound in grapes and red wine, has drawn attention due to potential cardiovascular-related health benefits. However, its effect on vascular inflammation at physiologically achievable concentrations is largely unknown. In this study, resveratrol in concentrations as low as 1 μm suppressed TNF-α-induced monocyte adhesion to h...

Evidence is emerging that disruption of the endothelial glycocalyx might contribute importantly to arterial dysfunction in the context of diabetes. One approach to assess the integrity of the endothelium and the vascular smooth muscle cell layer, in the absence of neural, humoral, and mechanical influences, is by measuring arterial vasomotion ex vi...

The glycocalyx is a biologically active barrier that covers the luminal side of the vascular endothelium and it is comprised of proteoglycans [core proteins with glycosaminoglycans (GAG) side chains], glycoproteins, and plasma proteins. Evidence shows that the disruption in the structure and function of the endothelial glycocalyx exacerbates vascul...

Objective: The importance of endothelial cell (EC) autophagy to vascular homeostasis is evolving. Earlier we reported that purinergic 2Y 1 receptor (P2Y 1 -R) activation rejuvenates shear-stress induced nitric oxide (NO) generation in bovine aortic endothelial cells that is otherwise compromised after pharmacological and genetic autophagy repressio...

Objective The importance of endothelial cell (EC) autophagy to vascular homeostasis is evolving. Earlier we reported that purinergic 2Y 1 receptor (P2Y 1 -R) activation rejuvenates shearstress induced nitric oxide (NO) generation in bovine aortic endothelial cells that is otherwise compromised after pharmacological and genetic autophagy repression....

Diabetes prevalence and incidence among youth have been increasing globally. Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) in children or adolescents accounts for 5–10% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. Emerging evidence indicates that genetic factors, especially genes in the human leukocyte antigen region, are not the only factors involved in the predisposition of an i...

To map the cellular topography of the rare 3- O -sulfated structural motif of heparan sulfate (HS), we constructed quantum dot-based probes for antithrombin and FGF2, which reveal widely different distribution of the targeted HS motifs.

Preliminary research regarding the vascular effects of dietary, freeze-dried strawberry in a high-fat fed murine model. The association between the gut microbiota, strawberry Anthocyanins, and vascular function in a Metabolic Syndrome model was tested and determined.

Objectives: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is an important risk factor for cardiovascular mortality and vascular inflammation plays a major role in the development of vascular complications. We tested the hypothesis that dietary strawberries (SB) attenuate vascular inflammation in MetS and this is due to a direct effect of SB on the vasculature. Metho...

Background Cardiovascular disease is 2–4 fold more prevalent in patients with diabetes. In diabetes high glucose induced vascular inflammation and the subsequent endothelial dysfunction leads to the development of atherosclerosis. Human studies have shown that the consumption of strawberries (SB) improves cardiovascular risk but the effects of SB o...

Autophagy is a process whereby damaged cellular cargo is delivered to the lysosome for degradation and eventual recycling or removal. A reduction of autophagy‐related (Atg) mRNA and protein expression in endothelial cells (ECs) from old rodents and humans is associated with arterial dysfunction. One study reports increased indices of autophagy in a...

Background Patients with diabetes are 2–4 fold more susceptible to cardiovascular complications. High glucose‐induced vascular inflammation and the subsequent vascular dysfunction play a major role in the development of atherosclerosis in the context of diabetes. In preliminary studies we showed that relative to vehicle (BSA) treated arteries, dysf...

Background High glucose induced vascular inflammation plays a major role in the development of vascular complications in diabetes. The vascular endothelium is covered with the glycocalyx that acts as an orchestrator of vascular homeostasis. It is comprised of a mesh of glycosaminoglycans (GAG), proteoglycans including heparan sulfate (HS) proteogly...

Background: Cardiovascular disease is 2-4-fold more prevalent in patients with diabetes. Human studies support the cardiovascular benefits of strawberry consumption but the effects of strawberry on diabetic vasculature are unknown. We tested the hypothesis that dietary strawberry supplementation attenuates vascular inflammation and dysfunction in...

Earlier we reported that genetic repression of endothelial cell (EC) autophagy impairs autocrine signaling via the purinergic 2Y1 (P2Y1) receptor to EC nitric oxide (NO) synthase (eNOS), and prevents NO generation in response to shear stress. Herein we sought to determine whether aging‐associated endothelial dysfunction displayed by mice with defec...

Background: Glycosaminoglycan (GAG), a major component of the endothelial glycocalyx, is severely perturbed in diabetic vasculature leading to endothelial inflammation and vascular disease in diabetes. We tested the hypothesis that blueberry metabolites (BBM) ameliorate endothelial inflammation in diabetic endothelial cells (ECs) by restoring cell...

Scope: Lipotoxicity-induced endothelial dysfunction is an important vascular complication associated with diabetes. Clinical studies support the vascular benefits of blueberry anthocyanins, but the underlying mechanism is unclear. We tested the hypothesis that metabolites of blueberry anthocyanins attenuate lipotoxicity-induced endothelial dysfunc...

We hypothesized that metabolites of dietary flavonoids attenuate impairments in nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability evoked by glucotoxic conditions mimicking Type 1 or 2 diabetes. To test this, human aortic endothelial cells were treated with either vehicle control, quercetin-3-O-glucoronide, piceatannol or 3-(3-hydroxyphenyl)propionoic acid for 24 h...

Objective: Impaired endothelial cell (EC) autophagy compromises shear stress-induced nitric oxide (NO) generation. We determined the responsible mechanism. Approach and results: On autophagy compromise in bovine aortic ECs exposed to shear stress, a decrease in glucose uptake and EC glycolysis attenuated ATP production. We hypothesized that decr...

Epidemiological studies have found associations between cruciferous vegetable consumption and reduced risk of chronic conditions, such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, and cancer. Sulforaphane, a molecule found in its precursor state in cruciferous and other vegetables, is the focus of much current nutritional interest. Others and we have recently rep...

Epidemiological studies have found associations between cruciferous vegetable consumption and reduced risk of chronic conditions, such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, and cancer. Sulforaphane, a molecule found in its precursor state in cruciferous and other vegetables, is the focus of much current nutritional interest. Others and we have recently rep...

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Dietary habits influence a variety of cardiovascular complications such as peripheral artery disease, heart failure, and kidney disease. We along with others have previously reported the cardiovascular beneficial effects of dietary flavonoids. Anthocyanins, one class of flav...

Endothelial dysfunction occurs when there are imbalances between factors that regulate the synthesis and degradation of nitric oxide (NO(•)), and has been reported in patients with hyperglycemia and insulin resistance. We reported that supplementation with γ-tocopherol (γ-T) in humans limits impairments in endothelial function otherwise induced by...

The vascular benefits of blueberry (BB) anthocyanins reported in humans might be mediated by their circulating metabolites. To test this, we synthesized the BB‐metabolites vanillic acid‐4‐sulfate (V4S), isovanillic acid‐3‐sulfate (IV3S), and benzoic acid‐4‐sulfate (B4S), because these compounds are not commercially available. As hypothesized, a com...

Prior studies have implicated accumulation of ceramide in blood vessels as a basis for vascular dysfunction in diet-induced obesity via a mechanism involving type 2 protein phosphatase (PP2A) dephosphorylation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). The current study sought to elucidate the mechanisms linking ceramide accumulation with PP2A ac...

Prior studies have implicated accumulation of ceramide in blood vessels as a basis for vascular dysfunction in diet-induced obesity via a mechanism involving PP2A dephosphorylation of eNOS. The present study sought to elucidate the mechanisms linking ceramide accumulation with PP2A activation and determine if pharmacological inhibition of PP2A in v...

Caffeine is a widely consumed beverage in much of the world. Recent epidemiological studies have demonstrated that coffee consumption is inversely associated with Parkinson's disease. However, the mechanism for this protection is unknown. Oxidative stress has been suggested to play an important role in neuronal degeneration. Peroxynitrite is a stro...

Sulforaphane, a naturally-occurring isothiocyanate present in cruciferous vegetables, has received wide attention for its potential to improve vascular function in vitro. However, its effect in vivo and the molecular mechanism of sulforaphane at physiological concentrations remain unclear. Here, we report that a sulforaphane concentration as low as...

Abstract Obesity and diabetes are growing health problems worldwide. In this study, dietary provision of Chinese ginseng (0.5 g/kg diet) prevented body weight gain in high-fat (HF) diet-fed mice. Dietary ginseng supplementation reduced body fat mass gain, improved glucose tolerance and whole body insulin sensitivity, and prevented hypertension in H...

Autophagy is a lysosomal catabolic process by which cells degrade or recycle their contents to maintain cellular homeostasis, adapt to stress, and respond to disease. Impairment of autophagy in endothelial cells studied under static conditions results in oxidant stress and impaired nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability. We tested the hypothesis that va...

Introduction: TNF-α, plays an important role in endothelial dysfunction and is involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Aim: We investigated the protective effect of cruciferous vegetable phytochemical sulforaphane at physiological concentrations on TNF-α-induced vascular inflammation. Methods: Human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HU...

Introduction: In diabetes, hyperglycemia-induced vascular inflammation, resulting in the adhesion of monocytes to vascular endothelial cells and their subsequent migration into the subendothelial space, plays a major role in the development of atherosclerosis. ROS induce the inflammatory events involved in diabetic vascular disease by suppressing e...

We hypothesized that biological metabolites of quercetin, resveratrol, and grape seed extract previously identified in human plasma can prevent impairment of nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability due to glucotoxic conditions (e.g. Type 1 or 2 diabetes). Human aortic endothelial cells were treated for 24 h with 2μΜ Quercetin‐3‐O‐glucoronide, 5μΜ Piceata...

We have shown in bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs) treated with palmitate (P) and in arteries from obese mice that protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) associates directly with eNOS. When PP2A co‐localizes with eNOS, interactions among Akt‐Hsp90‐eNOS are disrupted, p‐eNOS/eNOS is decreased, and NO bioavailability is impaired. We hypothesized that PP...

Flavonoids are polyphenolic compounds that are abundant in fruits and vegetables, and increasing evidence demonstrates a positive relationship between consumption of flavonoid-rich foods and disease prevention. Epidemiological, in vitro and animal studies support the beneficial effects of dietary flavonoids on glucose and lipid homeostasis. It is e...

Genistein, a soy isoflavone, has received wide attention for its potential to improve vascular function, but the mechanism of this effect is unclear. Here, we report that genistein at physiological concentrations (0.1μM-5μM) significantly inhibited TNF-α-induced adhesion of monocytes to human umbilical vein endothelial cells, a key event in the pat...

The soy-derived phytoestrogen genistein has received attention for its potential to improve vascular function, but its mechanism remains unclear. Here, we report that genistein at physiologically relevant concentrations (0.1-10 μM) significantly inhibited thrombin-induced increase in endothelial monolayer permeability. Genistein also reduced the fo...

Hyperglycemia-induced vascular inflammation resulting in the adhesion of monocytes to endothelium is a key event in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in diabetes. We investigated whether epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a major catechin found in green tea, reduces vascular inflammation in diabetes. Human aortic endothelial cells (HAEC) were pretr...

Hyperglycemia-induced vascular inflammation resulting in the enhanced monocyte-endothelial cell (EC) interaction is the key event in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in diabetes. Here, we investigated the effect of isoflavone genistein on hyperglycemia-stimulated vascular inflammation. Human aortic EC (HAEC) were pretreated with genistein before...

The lifespan of diabetic patients is 7-8 y shorter than that of the general population because of hyperglycemia-induced vascular complications and damage to other organs such as the liver and skeletal muscle. Here, we investigated the effects of epicatechin, one of the major flavonoids in cocoa, on health-promoting effects in obese diabetic (db/db)...

This chapter discusses the role of flavonoids in cardiovascular health and its potential health promoting properties. Flavonoids are mentioned to be naturally occurring polyphenolic compounds and are the most prevalent class of phytochemicals in fruit, vegetables and plant-derived beverages. A brief account of the molecular structure and classifica...

The protective effect of aspartate and glutamate in isoproterenol induced myocardial infarction (MI) was investigated in experimental animals. Male albino wistar rats were pretreated with aspartate [100mg (kg body weight)-1 day-1] or glutamate [100mg (kg body weight)-1 day-1] intraperitoneally for a period of 7 days. Following amino acid treatment,...

The present study investigates the effect of aspartate and glutamate on mitochondrial function during myocardial infarction (MI) in wistar rats. Male albino wistar rats were pretreated with aspartate [100 mg(kgbody weight)(-1) day(-1)] or glutamate [100 mg(kg body weight)(-1) day(-1)] intraperitoneally for a period of 7 days. Following amino acid t...

Oral cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Drugs can modulate the expression of drug metabolizing enzymes and are useful in chemoprevention as well as therapy in cancer. 4-Nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4-NQO) is used to induce oral cancer in the present study. In the present investigation, the effect of green tea polyphenols (GTP) on the...

Epidemiological, clinical and experimental studies have established a positive correlation between green tea consumption and cardiovascular health. Catechins, the major polyphenolic compounds in green tea, exert vascular protective effects through multiple mechanisms, including antioxidative, anti-hypertensive, anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative...

Diabetes leads to modification of collagen such as advanced glycation and cross-linking which play an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus. We have investigated the effect of green tea on modification of collagen in streptozotocin (60 mg/kg body weight) induced diabetic rats. To investigate the therapeutic effect of green tea, tr...

Modification of collagen such as non-enzymatic glycation and cross-linking plays an important role in diabetic complications and age-related diseases. We evaluate the effect of Withania somnifera on glucose-mediated collagen glycation and cross-linking in vitro. Extent of glycation, viscosity, collagen-linked fluorescence and pepsin solubility were...

The enhanced myocardial collagen content, collagen glycation and the resulting advanced glycation end products (AGE) which exhibit the characteristics of increased cross-linking are proposed for the stiffness of myocardium in diabetes. To explore the cardioprotective effect of green tea in diabetes, we study the effect of green tea extract on myoca...

The efficacy of green tea extract (GTE) on serum and cardiac lipids was investigated in streptozotocin (STZ)‐diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced in rats by a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ (60 mg/kg bodyweight). Six weeks after the induction of diabetes, GTE was administered orally for 4 weeks (300 mg/kg bodyweight daily). Bodyweight, hear...

Hyperglycemia induced oxidative stress has been proposed as a cause of many complications of diabetes including cardiac dysfunction. The present study depicts the therapeutic effect of green tea extract on oxidative stress in aorta as well as heart of streptozotocin diabetic rats. Six weeks after diabetes induction, green tea was administered orall...

Diabetes-induced hyperlipidemia, oxidative stress and protein glycation impair cellular calcium and sodium homeostasis associated with abnormal membrane-bound enzyme activities resulting in cardiac dysfunction in diabetes. To explore the cardioprotective mechanism of green tea in diabetes, we measured the changes in the levels of calcium, sodium, p...

The therapeutic effect of green tea extract (GTE) on the aortic collagen content and its characteristics were investigated in streptozotocin diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced in rats by a single intra peritoneal injection of streptozotocin (60 mg/kg bodyweight). Six weeks after diabetes induction, GTE was administered orally for four weeks (300 m...