Inset: Electing to apply the descriptor “synergistic” to a finished good or natural bioactive blend is widespread and has become a perfunctory task in the positioning and labeling of finished goods. Who knows what it actually means AND can substantiate it in…humans?

Setting: Muon University, Department of Biochemistry and Metabolism, graduate class: Nutritional Pharmacodynamics virtual cyberlecture 22.14; 6 December 2010.

Professor Joan Betz:“…Moreover, the inadequacies of genomic testing per se accelerated the utility and commercial success of incorporating the microbiome in the gut with whole body metabolic changes, or metabolomics. Now let’s move to your experiments you were assigned four months ago. Ms. van der Linden, would you please start by profiling your experiment?”

Ms. Elyn van der Linden, graduate student: “Thank you, Dr. Betz. Hi everyone out there. My experiment was designed to assess if an additive or even synergistic pharmacodynamic effect could be achieved by combining two fruit extracts, in relation to antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and gut microbiome impact. To assess additive, synergistic or antagonistic interactions of the combination, I had my six subjects—myself included—take an extract of each of the individual fruits, and then the combo, daily and in random order for one week, followed by a three-week non-supplementing ‘washout’ period. My lab partner James Ellis was kind enough to blind and code the doses for each person so no one knew what they were receiving at any time. James subjected each dose to F-NMR testing, to confirm that the full chemoprofile of either or both extracts was indeed in each dose. Most importantly, James inserted a nano-BioCam in each dose, to allow both visual and metabolic data to be collected after ingestion, and to objectively confirm compliance.”

Prof. Betz:“Any questions of your colleague’s design before she presents the results?”

Grad student Ashley Khan: “What were the two fruits you evaluated and what was the dosage form?”

Ms. van der Linden: “So sorry Ashley—I forgot to mention that. I used Euterpe oleracea and Vitis labrusca, both culitvars harvested from Earth and grown in the Stardome 24.ad solarium. The dose of each was equivalent to 10 grams of fresh whole fruit, dehydrated.”

Prof. Betz: “If there are no other questions, please share with us your data, Elyn.”

Ms. van der Linden:“First, each fruit extract when ingested alone displayed rapid metabolism by the gut flora, intestinal wall and liver, yielding very different daughter metabolites than those found in the parent fruit extracts. You will notice that neither fruit extract altered vascular flow, but both did alter inflammation signaling but in a complex manner. When ingested together there was only a modest increase in anti-inflammatory signaling but no change in pro-inflammatory signaling. Liver, brain and heart antioxidant response was unaffected by either fruit, despite blood antioxidant response being increased to a greater extent by V. labrusca fruit, and an additive effect when taken as the duo. Most notably, each extract altered the gut microbiome dramatically and persistently—due to the anti-microbial effects of the extracts—and subsequently altered liver function, urine metabolite profile and brain chemoprofile, through 11-12 days after stopping intake. When ingested together, these effects were magnified even more dramatically, indicating a synergistic interaction of the two fruit extracts, likely by selective killing or suppression of strains in the gut and the subsequent change in the pool of microbiome metabolic products that were absorbed into the circulation. We did not expect this…”