Evaluation of limonene supplementation on postprandial metabolism using DBS

D-limonene is the main monoterpene in citrus and it is easily absorbed and metabolized by mammals. Pre-clinical studies have reported hipolipemic and hipoglycemic effects of D-limonene, but there is a lack of clinical studies assessing this properties in humans. The collection of dry blood spots (DBS) is a minimally invasive method for blood sampling, offering advantages such as low cost, easy sample collection, and long-term stability of the samples. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of D-limonene supplementation on postprandial metabolic responses using DBS as the blood sampling method. The study involved a placebo-controlled, randomized trial, in which mixed meal dietary challenges were conducted with males and females of a wide range of age and BMI before and after two weeks of D-limonene supplementation. Metabolomic and lipidomic analysis are being performed in the samples collected to assess the impact of the supplementation in metabolism. This study will serve as a proof-of-principle for a remotrely-executed clinical study to investigate postprandial metabolism, eliminating the need of the study participants to visit the study center.