FIBEBIOTICS

Dietary Fibers supporting Gut and Immune Function - From polysaccharide compound to health claim

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The project goal is to support the development of functional food ingredients and products that are beneficial for the human gut & immune system and therefore of crucial importance for quality of life. The project will study the effects of specific non-digestible polysaccharides which have shown health potential in this field. The health effects of NPS will be focused around enhancing immune defence against pathogens, the reduction of infectious diseases like common cold and influenza of elderly and will make use of EFSA supported biomarkers that enable immune function claims and underpin the mechanism involved. The studied mechanisms are the innate and adaptive immune system and the possible involvement of the microbiota and microbiota-mediated products. To achieve this goal new and existing NPS will be studied for their health effects in a systematic way by developing a toolbox of dedicated assays and models that can be used by industry and authorities to study and approve food ingredients with a similar health focus. The project will: 1) perform biochemical analyses to study compounds, effect of processing and bioavailability, 2) develop standardized in vitro screening methods to be able to predict in vivo effects, 3) use dedicated in vivo and ex vivo analyses to study mechanisms of action and to validate biomarkers and 4) use and validate this knowledge in an intervention study. By combining the knowledge that will be gained from molecular, cellular and whole-organism studies, the goal will be to understand the bioactive mechanisms of these NPS and use this knowledge to design functional food products. SMEs make a very large contribution to the project, both as beneficiary of the products and as a technology service provider related to health research. This proposed project should provide the scientific basis for international nutritional organisations to recommend an immune-related functional health claim for some of the NPS studied.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Non-digestible polysaccharides (NPSs) might not sound very appealing but they can make a big difference to our health. Researchers are testing those that will fend off colds and flu with a view to incorporating them into tasty yet functional food.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The 'Dietary fibers supporting gut and immune function - from polysaccharide compound to health claim' (http://www.fibebiotics.eu (FIBEBIOTICS)) project is developing new functional foods to tune up the immune system. To realise their goals, researchers will use a toolbox of specialised tests, models and trials.

FIBEBIOTICS intends to develop these high market value functional foods via a direct priming of the immune system and via modification of the gut microbe composition. More importantly, these products will have science-based evidence for their bioactivity. It is anticipated that benefits of prebiotics such as fibre and NPS can be synergised with probiotics to produce synbiotics.

Candidates that were tested included b-glucans from yeast, oat and Shiitake, arabinoxylan from wheat, apple pectin and an exopolysaccharide from bacteria. Most of these compounds contain lipopolysaccharide (LPS) derived from bacteria that stimulates a strong immune response. Tests showed that some compounds stimulates the responses gut epithelial cellsand immune cells, lymphocytes and also has an anti-inflammatory effect.

The team also developed and applied a dynamic simulator of the human intestinal microbial ecosystem to study the effects of NPS on the gut microbe population. Researchers also focussed on short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that are produced from the fermentation of fibre in the colon. Certain SCFAs may reduce the incidence of developing gastrointestinal disorders, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.

To test the impact on the immune system, 240 people aged 50 years and above are taking part in a pilot trial. The researchers are looking at levels of antibodies after a standard flu vaccine, immune biomarkers in the blood and gut microbe composition.

The project website will store publicly available research results in full and give details relevant for public information. An industrial platform, continuously open for interested stakeholders from the industry, has 32 industrial members so far and links information on project results, tools and methods with the food industry. A restricted site will house the specially tailored database for all the data generated.

The potential impact of this project research is massive as the global cost of colds and flu is estimated at $ 40 billion annually. Moreover, the immune system not only fights infection but also plays a major part in chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes.