ILSI Europe’s Session on “How Do Prebiotics and Probiotics Work? – Mechanistic Insights Into Their Function” at IPC 2017

International Scientific Conference on Probiotics and Prebiotics (IPC) 2017
Budapest, Hungary
20/06/2017 – 22/06/2017

ILSI Europe’s session on ‘How do Prebiotics and Probiotics Work? – Mechanistic Insights Into Their Function” is part of the International Scientific Conference on Probiotics and Prebiotics (IPC) 2017, that took place from the 20-22 June 2017 in the Mariott Hotel in Budapest, Hungary.
For more information about IPC2017, please visit the official conference website: http://www.probiotic-conference.net/

SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE SESSION

An unhealthy gut contributes to a wide range of diseases including diabetes, obesity or inflammatory diseases. Since it is increasingly acknowledged that the gastrointestinal microbiota plays a major role in the improvement of host health, scientists have a strong interest in the effects of diet on human gastrointestinal microbiota composition. Functional foods are directed towards digestive health, with prebiotics and probiotics probably being the most common, worldwide.

Prebiotics bear the potential of modulating the host microbiota composition and activity. These compounds display great variability in terms of structure, but so far, no clear correlation between a specific structure and induced microbiota changes has been concluded.

Probiotic products are currently consumed by millions of people every day. There is a general consensus in the scientific community that specific probiotic strains have documented health benefits. However, quite often a further elucidation of the clinical effect is lacking.

In this session, invited experts introduced recent achievements from ILSI Europe in relation to prebiotics and probiotics. This session highlighted the health relevance of investigating and unraveling prebiotics and probiotics effects on molecular level.

PROGRAMME

Pro- and prebiotics: an evolution that cannot be stopped, despite some questions awaiting answers
Prof. Bruno Pot Yakult Europe, NL

Designing Next Generation Prebiotics for Lifelong Health
Prof. Robert Rastall - University of Reading, UK

A Conceptual Frame for Defining Mechanisms of Probiotics Action
Prof. Sarah Lebeer - University of Antwerp, BE

Panel Discussion
Prof. Bruno Pot – Yakult Europe, NL
Prof. Robert Rastall – University of Reading, UK
Prof. Sarah Lebeer – University of Antwerp, BE

CONTACT

For more information about the session programme, please contact our Scientific Project Manager Dr Tobias Recker at trecker@ilsieurope.be.

For more information about ILSI Europe’s Prebiotics, and Probiotics Task Forces please have a look at the respective websites or visit our booth at IPC2017.