1. J Biotechnol. 2020 Feb 10;309:29-33. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2019.12.016. Epub 
2019 Dec 26.

Hydroxytyrosol: A natural compound with promising pharmacological activities.

Bertelli M(1), Kiani AK(2), Paolacci S(3), Manara E(4), Kurti D(5), Dhuli K(6), 
Bushati V(7), Miertus J(8), Pangallo D(9), Baglivo M(10), Beccari T(11), 
Michelini S(12).

Author information:
(1)EBTNA-Lab, Via Delle Maioliche, 57/G, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy; MAGI's Lab, 
Via Delle Maioliche, 57/D, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy; MAGI Euregio, Via Maso 
della Pieve, 60/A, 39100, Bolzano, Italy. Electronic address: 
matteo.bertelli@assomagi.org.
(2)Allama Iqbal Open University, Sector H-8, 44000, Islamabad, Pakistan. 
Electronic address: ayshakiani@gmail.com.
(3)MAGI's Lab, Via Delle Maioliche, 57/D, 38068, Rovereto, TN, Italy. Electronic 
address: stefano.paolacci@assomagi.org.
(4)MAGI Euregio, Via Maso della Pieve, 60/A, 39100, Bolzano, Italy. Electronic 
address: elena.manara@assomagi.org.
(5)MAGI Balkans, Rruga Andon Zako Cajupi, 1019, Tirana, Albania. Electronic 
address: danjela.kurti@hotmail.com.
(6)MAGI Balkans, Rruga Andon Zako Cajupi, 1019, Tirana, Albania. Electronic 
address: kristjana.dhuli@gmail.com.
(7)MAGI Balkans, Rruga Andon Zako Cajupi, 1019, Tirana, Albania. Electronic 
address: genetica.clinica@assomagi.org.
(8)Genius n.o., Mestská poliklinika Starohájska 2, 91701, Trnava, Slovakia. 
Electronic address: jan.miertus@gmail.com.
(9)Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 
21, Bratislava, 84551, Slovakia. Electronic address: domenico.pangallo@savba.sk.
(10)MAGI Euregio, Via Maso della Pieve, 60/A, 39100, Bolzano, Italy. Electronic 
address: mirko.baglivo@assomagi.org.
(11)Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Perugia, Via Ariodante 
Fabretti, 48, 06123, Perugia, Italy. Electronic address: 
tommaso.beccari@unipg.it.
(12)Department of Vascular Rehabilitation, San Giovanni Battista Hospital, Via 
Luigi Ercole Morselli, 13, 00148, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: 
s.michelini@acismom.it.

Hydroxytyrosol is a phenolic phytochemical with antioxidant properties in vitro. 
It is a natural compound that can be found in olive leaves and oil. The main 
dietary source of hydroxytyrosol is extra virgin olive oil. Due to its 
bioavailability, chemical properties and easy formulation along with its lack of 
toxicity, hydroxytyrosol is considered an excellent food supplement by the 
nutraceutical and food industries. The purpose of this review is to discuss the 
potential therapeutic effects of hydroxytyrosol in vivo. To do so, we conducted 
an electronic search in PubMed and other literature databases using 
"hydroxytyrosol", "beneficial effect/s", "pharmacology" as key-words. From this 
search, we found that hydroxytyrosol has anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, 
antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties. Hydroxytyrosol also improves 
endothelial dysfunction, decreases oxidative stress, and is neuro- and 
cardio-protective. Due to all these biological properties, hydroxytyrosol is 
currently the most actively investigated natural phenol. The evidence presented 
in this review suggests that hydroxytyrosol has great pharmacological potential.

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2019.12.016
PMID: 31884046 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

Conflict of interest statement: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors 
declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal 
relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this 
paper.