Phenolic acid metabolites derived from coffee consumption are unlikely to cross the blood-brain barrier

Coffee drinking is well known for its stimulating effects on the brain and on cognition. In addition to the most active component, caffeine, coffee contains phenolic acids, which may also have some activity. Dihydrocaffeoyl-3-O-sulfate, caffeoyl-3-O-sulfate, dihydroferuloyl-4-O-sulfate, as well as dihydroferulic, dihydrocaffeic, 5-O-feruloylquinic and 5-O-caffeoylquinic acids, the major phenolic acid metabolites circulating in human plasma after coffee ingestion, were tested for their potential to enter the brain using a validated in vitro model of the blood brain barrier made of endothelial cells from bovine brain capillaries. As expected, caffeine showed a high rate of permeation across this barrier, but the phenolic acid metabolites exhibited a very low rate of permeation. The data suggest that none of these phenolic acid metabolites can be considered as potential candidate to enter the brain in vivo and so are unlikely to affect cognitive processes directly as proposed for caffeine.