Investigating the potential of prebiotics to rebalance and maintain health
Task Force Information
Objectives
A prebiotic is a food ingredient that selectively stimulates growth and/or the activity of microbial species inhabiting the host, which may bring about health benefits.
A better understanding of mechanisms of prebiotics is still needed. The task force aims at providing mechanistic insights linking prebiotics to individual health benefits.
Task Force Members
| Dr Anirikh Chakrabarti – Chair | Cargill | Senior Scientist | BE |
| Dr Stephan Theis – Vice-Chair | Südzucker Group | Head of Nutrition Science | DE |
| Prof. Kristin Verbeke – Co-Chair | Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID) | Professor and Head of TARGID | BE |
| Prof. Paul de Vos* | University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) | Professor | NL |
| Dr Georgina Dodd | Clasado | Senior Scientist and R&D Manager | UK |
| Dr Sofia Forssten | International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) | Group Leader Nutrition and Health | FI |
| Dr Damien Guillemet | Nexira | Scientific Development Director | FR |
| Dr Alexandra Meynier | Mondelēz International | Nutrition Scientist | FR |
| Dr Frédérique Respondek | CP Kelco | Director Scientific Regulatory Affairs | FR |
| Dr Bernd Stahl | Danone Nutricia Research | Director of Human Milk Research & Analytical Science | NL |
| Dr Clémentine Thabuis | Roquette | Nutrition Research Manager | FR |
| Dr Elaine Vaughan | Sensus | Scientific & Regulatory Affairs | NL |
| Ms Naomi Venlet | ILSI Europe | Scientific Project Manager | BE |
*Scientific Advisor
Contact Information
For more detailed information, please contact Naomi Venlet at nvenlet@ilsieurope.be
Activity Overview
Expert workshop to identify knowledge gaps and a roadmap for building a health claims portfolio - Upcoming -
Objectives
Identify underlying gaps in our mechanistic understanding and possible means of filling these gaps. The activity will seek to bring together leading scientific experts, industry leaders and independent regulatory advisors, in an interactive and creative environment to identify current gaps in our mechanistic understanding, and importantly, propose the next steps necessary to fill these gaps.
Expected results
Workshop and workshop report
Cognitive Performance, gut microbiome and and role of Prebiotics - Upcoming
Objectives
This activity will focus on identifying the most promising cognitive domains for prebiotics interventions and aims to elaborate what could be transferred from studies from the diseased population to the healthy general population.
Expected results
Peer-reviewed publication
Expert Groups
Role of prebiotics in cognitive functioning: What do we know and where to go next?
Background and objectives
Cognition comprises the mental processes of attending to, understanding of, remembering, and utilizing information. Cognition is influenced by genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors, including nutrition. In fact, recent evidence suggests that prebiotics may influence cognitive functioning via the microbiota-gut-brain axis. This may occur by modulating the microbiota composition and function, resulting in signal transduction via nervous, endocrine, and immune pathways to the brain and central nervous system.
Output
A perspective article that provides a short synopsis of the field, and proposes a list of recommendations to move the field forward. Specifically, it will highlight the need to perform studies in healthy participants that test the potential “rescuing” effects of prebiotics under conditions where cognition may be transiently compromised. Ultimately, such studies would allow better estimation of the magnitude of effects of prebiotics, since current studies largely yield null findings.
Expert group members
Role of prebiotics in bacterial and viral infection, and vaccination efficiency – NEW
Background and Objectives
Recent research, including human clinical research, gut microbiota effects and resultant metabolites, suggests a beneficial effect of non-digestible carbohydrates-type prebiotics consumption on immunity and resistance to infections. In this context, the purpose of this review is to collect and assess the scientific evidence and provide academic and industry scientists working in the prebiotic field with answers regarding the potential impact on viral and bacterial diseases and vaccination efficacy.
Output
The review will give the current status for prebiotics impact on infections, both prevention or recovery, and in supporting vaccination efficacy, for academics and industry scientists in this field. Especially in the SARS-Cov2 crisis, such a review may offer guidance to academia and industry to propose research or to manufacture food products with prebiotics for healthier diets to support immunity in vulnerable individuals.
Expert Group Members
Publications
All Publications
Structure and function of non-digestible carbohydrates in the gut microbiome
Beneficial Microbes, 2022
Commissioned by the Prebiotics Task Force.
Perspective: Leveraging the Gut Microbiota to Predict Personalized Responses to Dietary, Prebiotic, and Probiotic Interventions
Advances in Nutrition, 2022
Commissioned by the Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.
Dietary Probiotics, Prebiotics and the Gut Microbiota in Human Health
2022
Commissioned by the Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.
The microbiota–gut–brain axis: pathways to better brain health. Perspectives on what we know, what we need to investigate and how to put knowledge into practice
Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 2022
(2022) 79:80. Commissioned by the Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health, Nutrition and Brain Health, Nutrition, Immunity and Inflammation, Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.
Short-chain fatty acids in human gut and metabolic health
2020
Beneficial Microbes, 11 (5)- Pages: 411 – 455 (2020). Commissioned by the Prebiotics Task Force
- To download the English version, click here.
- To download the Portuguese version, click here.
- To download the French version, click here.
- To download the Spanish version, click here.
- To download the Slovak version, click here.
- To download the Japanese version, click here.
- To download the Chinese version, click here.
Click on the image below to download the one-pager summary.
Commissioned by the Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.
[post_title] => Dietary Probiotics, Prebiotics and the Gut Microbiota in Human Health [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => dietary-probiotics-prebiotics-and-the-gut-microbiota-in-human-health [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2023-02-06 13:36:16 [post_modified_gmt] => 2023-02-06 13:36:16 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://ilsi.eu/?post_type=publication&p=10626 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => publication [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [3] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 10456 [post_author] => 24 [post_date] => 2022-03-28 13:12:46 [post_date_gmt] => 2022-03-28 13:12:46 [post_content] =>Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health
Nutrition and Brain Health
Nutrition, Immunity and Inflammation
Prebiotics
Probiotics
GUT MICROBIOME AND HEALTH and NUTRITION AND CONSUMER SCIENCE
The gut and brain link via various metabolic and signalling pathways, each with the potential to influence mental, brain and cognitive health. Over the past decade, the involvement of the gut microbiota in gut-brain communication has become the focus of increased scientific interest, establishing the microbiota-gut-brain axis as a field of research. There is a growing number of association studies exploring the gut microbiota's possible role in memory, learning, anxiety, stress, neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. Consequently, attention is now turning to how the microbiota can become the target of nutritional and therapeutic strategies for improved brain health and well-being. However, while such strategies that target the gut microbiota to influence brain health and function are currently under development with varying levels of success, still very little is yet known about the triggers and mechanisms underlying the gut microbiota's apparent influence on cognitive or brain function and most evidence comes from pre-clinical studies rather than well controlled clinical trials/investigations. Filling the knowledge gaps requires establishing a standardised methodology for human studies, including strong guidance for specific focus areas of the microbiota-gut-brain axis, the need for more extensive biological sample analyses, and identification of relevant biomarkers. Other urgent requirements are new advanced models for in vitro and in vivo studies of relevant mechanisms, and a greater focus on omics technologies with supporting bioinformatics resources (training, tools) to efficiently translate study findings, as well as the identification of relevant targets in study populations. The key to building a validated evidence base rely on increasing knowledge sharing and multi-disciplinary collaborations, along with continued public-private funding support. This will allow microbiota-gut-brain axis research to move to its next phase so we can identify realistic opportunities to modulate the microbiota for better brain health.
To download this open-access article, please click here.
This work was conducted in collaboration with the Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health, Nutrition and Brain Health, Nutrition, Immunity and Inflammation, Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.
[post_title] => The microbiota–gut–brain axis: pathways to better brain health. Perspectives on what we know, what we need to investigate and how to put knowledge into practice [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => the-microbiota-gut-brain-axis-pathways-to-better-brain-health-perspectives-on-what-we-know-what-we-need-to-investigate-and-how-to-put-knowledge-into-practice [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2022-10-10 06:51:51 [post_modified_gmt] => 2022-10-10 06:51:51 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://ilsi.eu/?post_type=publication&p=10456 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => publication [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [4] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 7949 [post_author] => 204 [post_date] => 2020-09-08 13:43:43 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-09-08 13:43:43 [post_content] => [post_title] => Short-chain fatty acids in human gut and metabolic health [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => short-chain-fatty-acids-in-human-gut-and-metabolic-health [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-09-09 14:49:16 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-09-09 14:49:16 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://ilsi.eu/?post_type=publication&p=7949 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => publication [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) ) [post_count] => 5 [current_post] => -1 [before_loop] => [in_the_loop] => [post] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 11188 [post_author] => 24 [post_date] => 2022-07-04 11:37:57 [post_date_gmt] => 2022-07-04 11:37:57 [post_content] =>Together with proteins and fats, carbohydrates are one of the macronutrients in the human diet. Digestible carbohydrates, such as starch, starch-based products, sucrose, lactose, glucose and some sugar alcohols and unusual (and fairly rare) α-linked glucans, directly provide us with energy while other carbohydrates including high molecular weight polysaccharides, mainly from plant cell walls, provide us with dietary fibre. Carbohydrates which are efficiently digested in the small intestine are not available in appreciable quantities to act as substrates for gut bacteria. Some oligo- and polysaccharides, many of which are also dietary fibres, are resistant to digestion in the small intestines and enter the colon where they provide substrates for the complex bacterial ecosystem that resides there. This review will focus on these non-digestible carbohydrates (NDC) and examine their impact on the gut microbiota and their physiological impact. Of particular focus will be the potential of non-digestible carbohydrates to act as prebiotics, but the review will also evaluate direct effects of NDC on human cells and systems
Keywords ExpandPrebiotics, short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), non-digestible carbohydrates
To download this open-access article, please click here.
This work was commissioned by the Prebiotics Task Force.
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Introductory video
Poster
Understanding the Prebiotics Metabolic and Health Effects
Webinars
'Toolsets for Mining the gut Microbiome to Enable Precision Nutrition'
Watch the Webinar
'Understanding Prebiotic and Probiotic Mechanisms that Drive Health Benefits'
Watch the Webinar
'Webinar on Microbial Metabolism Associated with Health'
Watch the Webinar
Completed Expert Groups
Overview of completed activities since 2021
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Prediction of individual responses to prebiotics and probiotics intervention (collaboration with Probiotics Task Force)
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Understanding the Relationship Between the Molecular Structure and the Effects of Prebiotic Compounds on Microbiota and its Metabolites
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Joint nutrition cluster activity on ‘mechanistic insights into the gut-brain axis' in collaboration with Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health; Health Benefit Assessment of Foods; Nutrition, Immunity & Inflammation; Nutrition & Brain Health; and Probiotics Task Forces
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Updated concise monograph - Dietary Probiotics, Prebiotics and the Gut Microbiota in Human Health (collaboration with Probiotics Task Force)
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Revealing the Mechanistic Role in Human Physiology and Beneficial Aspects of Short Chain Fatty Acid (SCFA) Production in the Gastro-Intestinal Tract (GIT)