141 J. Camps (ed.), Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Non-communicable Diseases – Molecular Mechanisms and Perspectives in Therapeutics, Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 824, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-07320-0_11, © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014 Abstract The use of plant-derived polyphenols for the management of diseases has been under debate in the last decades. Most studies have focused on the specific effects of polyphenols on particular targets, while ignoring their pleiotropic character. The multitargeted character of polyphenols, a plau- sible consequence of their molecular promiscuity, may suppose an oppor- tunity to fight multifactorial diseases. Therefore, a wider perspective is urgently needed to elucidate whether their rational use as bioactive food components may be valid for the management of diseases. In this chapter, we discuss the most likely targets of polyphenols that may account for their salutary effects from a global perspective. Among these targets, the modulation of signalling and energy-sensitive pathways, oxidative stress and inflammation-related processes, mitochondrial functionality, epigen- etic machinery, histone acetylation and membrane-dependent processes play central roles in polyphenols’ mechanisms of action. E. Barrajón-Catalán • M. Herranz-López Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular (IBMC), Universidad Miguel Hernández, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, Elche, Alicante E-03202, Spain e-mail: e.barrajon@umh.es; mherranz@umh.es J. Joven • C. Alonso-Villaverde Unitat de Recerca Biomèdica, Hospital Universitari Sant Joan, Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Reus, Spain e-mail: jorge.joven@urv.cat; calonvi@gmail.com A. Segura-Carretero Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain e-mail: ansegura@ugr.es 11 For the Bioactive Food Components Platform. Molecular Promiscuity of Plant Polyphenols in the Management of Age-Related Diseases: Far Beyond Their Antioxidant Properties Enrique Barrajón-Catalán, María Herranz-López, Jorge Joven, Antonio Segura-Carretero, Carlos Alonso- Villaverde, Javier A. Menéndez, and Vicente Micol J.A. Menéndez Head of the Traslation Research Unit, Catalan Institute of Oncology and Biomedical Research Institute, Girona, Spain e-mail: jmenendez@iconcologia.net; jmenendez@idibgi.org V. Micol (*) Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular (IBMC), Universidad Miguel Hernández, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, Elche, Alicante E-03202, Spain CIBER (CB12/03/30038, Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y la Nutrición, CIBERobn, Instituto de Salud Carlos III), Palma de Mallorca, Spain e-mail: vmicol@umh.es