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URV

Jananee Muralidharan

PhD Programme: Nutrition and Metabolism
Research group: NUTRCRSM - Alimentació, Nutrició, Creixement i Salut Mental
Supervisors: Jordi Salas-Salvadó & Mònica Bulló Bonet

Bio

Jananee Muralidharan has an Engineering degree in Industrial Biotechnology (India) and a Master’s degree in Food technology and nutrition (Sweden). She has been an Erasmus intern at University of Copehagen during her Masters degree. She also has a brief work experience in the food industry to develop products for better health benefits. With her PhD, she would like to continue in the field of developing healthy, tasty and sustainable foods for the future.

Project: Mediterranean lifestyle, gut microbiota, and cardiovascular risk: Match made in heaven

Obesity and metabolic syndrome are major public health issues increasing worldwide. Gut microbiota has established to play an important role in obesity, host energy metabolism and understanding its role in the context of health is essential. As the primary objective of this thesis, we evaluated the effect of 1-year intensive weight-loss intervention in the context of PREDIMED-Plus study on gut microbiota composition. We observed that weight loss mediated by the intervention induces changes in gut microbiota and some of these microbial genera were associated with changes in adiposity parameters. Secondly, we explored the differences in microbial composition with respect to various sources of protein intake, we observed that consuming animal-based proteins may have a stronger influence than plant-based proteins on gut microbiota. Finally, from the narrative review conducted on plant-based fats and gut microbiota, it can be concluded that replacement of saturated fats with plant sources of unsaturated fats could help in positive modulation of gut microbiota. We remark that there is a great need for human studies in the context of understanding the effects of different fat and protein sources on gut microbiota and consequently on health. Overall, we conclude from this Doctoral thesis that hypocaloric Mediterranean diet, along with physical activity and behavioral changes can have beneficial effects on the host, potentially modulated via gut microbiota. Plant based protein or fat sources may have positive effects on gut microbial composition and functionality. Huge amount of challenges and opportunities awaits in front of us to better understand diet-host-microbiome interactions. This PhD project is part of a broader research project, coordinated by the URV: PREDIMED Plus.

Open Access publications

  • Jananee Muralidharan, Christopher Papandreou, Aleix Sala-Vidal, Nuria Rosique-Esteban, Montserrat Fitó, Ramon Estruch, Miguel Angel Martínez-González, Dolores Corella, Emilio Ros, Cristina Razquín, Olga Castañer, Jordi Salas-Salvadó, and Monica Bulló. Fatty Acids composition of Blood Cell Membranes and Peripheral Inflammation in the PREDIMED Study: A Cross-sectional Analysis. Nutrients, 2019, 11(3). View full-text
  • Muralidharan J, Galiè S, Hernández-Alonso P, Bulló M and Salas-Salvadó J (2019) Plant-Based Fat, Dietary Patterns Rich in Vegetable Fat and Gut Microbiota Modulation. Front. Nutr. 6:157. View full-text
  • Salas-Huetos, Albert, Jananee Muralidharan, Serena Galiè, Jordi Salas-Salvadó, and Mònica Bulló. 2019. "Effect of Nut Consumption on Erectile and Sexual Function in Healthy Males: A Secondary Outcome Analysis of the FERTINUTS Randomized Controlled Trial" Nutrients 11, no. 6: 1372. View full-text
  • Silvia Canudas, S. Canudas, Pablo Hernández-Alonso, P. Hernández-Alonso, Serena Galié, S. Galié, Jananee Muralidharan, J. Muralidharan, Lydia Morell-Azanza, L. Morell-Azanza, Guillermo Zalba, G. Zalba, Jesús García-Gavilán, J. García-Gavilán, Amelia Martí, A. Martí, Jordi Salas-Salvadó, J. Salas-Salvadó, & Mònica Bulló, M. Bulló. (2019). Pistachio consumption modulates DNA oxidation and genes related to telomere maintenance: a crossover randomized clinical trial. American journal of clinical nutrition, 109, 1738-1745. View full-text
  • Papandreou C., Sala-Vila A., Galié S., Muralidharan J., Estruch R., Fitó M., Razquin C., Corella D., Ros E., Timiraos J., Lapetra J., Serra-Majem L., Carlos S., Castañer O., Asensio E.M., Salas-Salvadó J., and Bulló M. Association Between Fatty Acids of Blood Cell Membranes and Incidence of Coronary Heart Disease A Case-Control Study Nested in the PREDIMED Trial. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, 2019, 39(4). View full-text
  • Serena Galiè, Silvia Canudas, Jananee Muralidharan, Jesús García-Gavilán, Mònica Bulló, Jordi Salas-Salvadó. Impact of Nutrition on Telomere Health: Systematic Review of Observational Cohort Studies and Randomized Clinical Trials. Advances in Nutrition, 2019(107). View full-text
  • Muralidharan J, Moreno-Indias I, Bulló M, Lopez JV, Corella D, Castañer O, Vidal J, Atzeni A, Fernandez-García JC, Torres-Collado L, Fernández-Carrión R, Fito M, Olbeyra R, Gomez-Perez AM, Galiè S, Bernal-López MR, Martinez-Gonzalez MA, Salas-Salvadó J, Tinahones FJ. Effect on gut microbiota of a 1-y lifestyle intervention with Mediterranean diet compared with energy-reduced Mediterranean diet and physical activity promotion: PREDIMED-Plus Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2021 Sep 1;114(3):1148-1158. View full-text
  • Serena Galié,Jesús García-Gavilán,Lucía Camacho-Barcía,Alessandro Atzeni,Jananee Muralidharan,Christopher Papandreou,Pierre Arcelin,Antoni Palau-Galindo,David Garcia,Josep Basora,Alejandro Arias-Vasquez,Mònica Bulló. Effects of the Mediterranean Diet or Nut Consumption on Gut Microbiota Composition and Fecal Metabolites and their Relationship with Cardiometabolic Risk Factors. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research Volume 65, Issue 19 2000982. View full-text
  • Atzeni, Alessandro, Serena Galié, Jananee Muralidharan, Nancy Babio, Francisco J. Tinahones, Jesús Vioque, Dolores Corella, Olga Castañer, Josep Vidal, Isabel Moreno-Indias, Laura Torres-Collado, Rebeca Fernández-Carrión, Montserrat Fitó, Romina Olbeyra, Miguel A. Martínez-González, Monica Bulló, and Jordi Salas-Salvadó. 2021. "Gut Microbiota Profile and Changes in Body Weight in Elderly Subjects with Overweight/Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome" Microorganisms 9, no. 2: 346. View full-text
  • Fernandez-Lazaro, C.I., Toledo, E., Buil-Cosiales, P. et al. Factors associated with successful dietary changes in an energy-reduced Mediterranean diet intervention: a longitudinal analysis in the PREDIMED-Plus trial. Eur J Nutr (2021). View full-text
  • PHD THESIS: Mediterranean lifestyle, gut microbiota, and cardiovascular risk: Match made in heaven

International secondment

  • BIO-ME AS (industry), Norway. 3 months (2020).

Outreach activities

  • Science Week 2019, Escola Internacional del Camp: “Healthy foods and little about monsters within!”

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