Prebiotics

Prebiotics

Investigating the potential of prebiotics to rebalance and maintain health

Task Force Information

Objectives and list of Task Force
members

Contact Information

Contact details in case you have
specific questions

Activity Overview

Overview of ongoing and
upcoming activities

Expert Groups

Objectives, output and list of experts
involved in each activity

Publications

List of publications of this
Task Force

Multimedia

Links to Task Force's related documents,
recordings and much more...

Completed Expert Groups

Details including experts involved of
each activity

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

WP DataTables

*Scientific Advisor

Contact Information

For more detailed information, please contact Georgia Chatonidi at gchatonidi@ilsieurope.be

Activity Overview

Ongoing

 

- Role of prebiotics in bacterial and viral infection, and vaccination efficiency

Recent research suggests a beneficial effect of nondigestible carbohydrates-type prebiotics consumption on immunity and resistance to infections. The purpose of this activity is to review and 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.

Start date: September 2022 | End date: Q4 2024

- Prebiotics sandpit: Identifying knowledge gaps and a roadmap for building a health claims portfolio

The Task Force is organising a workshop taking place on 25 Oct 2023 as a side-event of the ILSI Europe Annual Symposium.
This activity seeks 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 of prebiotics, and propose next steps to fill these gaps. A follow up report will be submitted for publication.

Start date: Q2 2023 | End date: Q3 2024

- Role of prebiotics in cognitive functioning

The Expert Group will soon start working on the role of prebiotics in cognitive functioning. A perspective paper will provide a short synopsis of the field, and propose a list of recommendations to move it forward.

Start date: Oct 2023 | End date: Q3 2024

Upcoming

- Implementation of NAMs in
prebiotic research

With the Task Force on New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), the Prebiotics Task Force has developed a new project to address the implementation of NAMs in prebiotic research through a gap analysis and a strategic mapping of existing models.

Expected kick-off: Q4 2024

- Markers of the gut microbiota

The group aims to identify key markers for assessing microbiota improvement, focusing on measurable indicators of microbiota composition. The activity is shared with the Probiotics Task Force.

Kick-off: Q4 2024 - End: Q1 2026

Expert Groups

Role of prebiotics in cognitive functioning: What do we know and where to go next?

Background and objectives

The aim of the activity will be to produce 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.

Output

  • Perspective paper

Expert group members

WP DataTables

Role of prebiotics in bacterial and viral infection, and vaccination efficiency

Background and Objectives

This review aims at collecting and assessing the scientific evidence of the potential impact on viral and bacterial diseases and vaccination efficacy. 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.

Output

This activity aims to understand the extent and mechanisms by which prebiotics impact the human host to support immunity in infection situations and vaccination efficacy. Output of this review will 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. The review will cover all age groups from infants to elderly as effects can differ to the development of the immune system.

Expert Group Members

WP DataTables

"Prebiotics Sandpit" Workshop: Identifiyng Knowledge Gaps and a Roadmap for Building an Health Claims Portfolio

Background and Objectives

The Task Force has organised the interdisciplinary workshop “Prebiotics sandpit: Identifying knowledge gaps and a roadmap for building a health claims portfolio”. This activity seeks 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 of prebiotics, and propose next steps to fill these gaps. The workshop took place on 25 Oct 2023 as a side-event of the ILSI Europe Annual Symposium. This paper gives an overview of the regulatory requirements for authorised health claims in the EU, key areas of prebiotic research, and findings to date in relation to digestive, immune, metabolic and cognitive health.

Output

  • Interactive interdisciplinary workshop.
  • Workshop report.

The review emphasizes the need for robust clinical studies to confirm prebiotics' health benefits, potentially driving industry investment and guiding regulatory bodies like EFSA in setting clearer guidelines. This could lead to more authorized health claims for prebiotics in the EU and stimulate innovation in food products targeting European consumers.

Expert Group Members

WP DataTables

Publications

All Publications

Targeting cognitive resilience through prebiotics: A focused perspective

This perspective article is a product of the work of an expert group within the Prebiotic Task Force convened by the International Life Sciences Institute Europe (ILSI Europe), a non-profit organization that brings together experts from academia, industry and public service to catalyse nutrition science for public benefit.

Read more

Prebiotics in food and dietary supplements: a roadmap to EU health claims

Numerous studies have established that prebiotic ingredients in foods and dietary supplements may play a role in supporting human health. Over the three decades that have passed since prebiotics were first defined as a concept, research has revealed a complex universe of prebiotic-induced changes to the human microbiota. There are strong indications of a direct link between these prebiotic-induced changes and specific health benefits.

Read more

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Abstract

This perspective article is a product of the work of an expert group within the Prebiotic Task Force convened by the International Life Sciences Institute Europe (ILSI Europe), a non-profit organization that brings together experts from academia, industry and public service to catalyse nutrition science for public benefit. An expert group was conceived in October 2023 to discuss the evidence base on the use of prebiotics to promote cognitive functioning, with a focus on highlighting knowledge gaps and proposing a list of recommendations to guide this specific area of research forward. To address this, we evaluated existing systematic reviews and meta-analyses of human intervention studies that examine the effects of prebiotics on cognitive functioning. These are predominantly conducted in healthy participants under basal conditions and have, to date, revealed limited effects. In this perspective, we propose that prebiotics should be investigated as agents to promote cognitive resilience by testing their effects on cognitive performance under certain cognition-taxing factors that individuals encounter across their lifespan. These include stress, poor sleep outcomes, sedentary behaviour, and unhealthy dietary patterns, all of which have been shown to be associated with altered microbiome and impact global cognition or specific cognitive domains. In addition, we recommend identifying vulnerable populations that are either sub-clinical or that struggle chronically or periodically with one or more cognition-taxing factors, to better uncover the boundary conditions for prebiotic effectiveness. By broadening the scope of research to include diverse populations and challenging conditions in daily life or experimental settings, we can expand our understanding of the role of prebiotics not only in cognitive health or impairment, but also as potential preventative agents that may promote cognitive resilience during aging and in response to various lifestyle-related challenges.

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Abstract

Numerous studies have established that prebiotic ingredients in foods and dietary supplements may play a role in supporting human health. Over the three decades that have passed since prebiotics were first defined as a concept, research has revealed a complex universe of prebiotic-induced changes to the human microbiota. There are strong indications of a direct link between these prebiotic-induced changes and specific health benefits. However, at the present time, the EU has not permitted use of the term 'prebiotic' in connection with an approved health claim. This paper is the outcome of a workshop organized on the 25th October 2023 by the European branch of the International Life Science Institute (ILSI). It provides an overview of the regulatory requirements for authorized health claims in the EU, key areas of prebiotic research, and findings to date in relation to prebiotics and digestive, immune, metabolic and cognitive health. Research gaps and documentation challenges are then explored and a roadmap proposed for achieving authorization of 'prebiotic' in the wording of future EU health claims.

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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 Expand

Prebiotics, 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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Humans often show variable responses to dietary, prebiotic, and probiotic interventions. Emerging evidence indicates that the gut microbiota is a key determinant for this population heterogeneity. Here, we provide an overview of some of the major computational and experimental tools being applied to critical questions of microbiota-mediated personalized nutrition and health. First, we discuss the latest advances in in silico modeling of the microbiota-nutrition-health axis, including the application of statistical, mechanistic, and hybrid artificial intelligence models. Second, we address high-throughput in vitro techniques for assessing inter-individual heterogeneity, from ex vivo batch culturing of stool and continuous culturing in anaerobic bioreactors, to more sophisticated organ-on-a-chip models that integrate both host and microbial compartments. Third, we explore in vivo approaches for better understanding personalized, microbiota-mediated responses to diet, prebiotics, and probiotics, from non-human animal models and human observational studies, to human feeding trials and crossover interventions. We highlight examples of existing, consumer-facing precision nutrition platforms that are currently leveraging the gut microbiota. Furthermore, we discuss how the integration of a broader set of the tools and techniques described in this piece can generate the data necessary to support a greater diversity of precision nutrition strategies. Finally, we present a vision of a precision nutrition and healthcare future, which leverages the gut microbiota to design effective, individual-specific interventions.

Download the full article here

or click on the image below to download the one-pager summary.

One-pager PRE PRO EG Prediction of indv. responses

Commissioned by the Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.

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Citation: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6394212

The scientific understanding of prebiotic and probiotic mechanisms has grown substantially in recent years. Although effects are often strain and product specific, some prebiotic and probiotic benefits may be driven by common, shared mechanisms and may therefore be generalizable. The use of emerging physiological and analytical tools in a multidisciplinary research setting will enable the elucidation of further mechanisms. In this way, it will be possible to improve the understanding of prebiotic, probiotic and synbiotic health effects. Based on recent sound scientific evidence, the monograph is a valuable reference work, aimed at informing a wide audience about the intestinal microbiota and the prebiotic and probiotic nutritional concepts.

  • 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.

One-pager PRE PRO concise monograph

Commissioned by the Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.

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Abstract

This perspective article is a product of the work of an expert group within the Prebiotic Task Force convened by the International Life Sciences Institute Europe (ILSI Europe), a non-profit organization that brings together experts from academia, industry and public service to catalyse nutrition science for public benefit. An expert group was conceived in October 2023 to discuss the evidence base on the use of prebiotics to promote cognitive functioning, with a focus on highlighting knowledge gaps and proposing a list of recommendations to guide this specific area of research forward. To address this, we evaluated existing systematic reviews and meta-analyses of human intervention studies that examine the effects of prebiotics on cognitive functioning. These are predominantly conducted in healthy participants under basal conditions and have, to date, revealed limited effects. In this perspective, we propose that prebiotics should be investigated as agents to promote cognitive resilience by testing their effects on cognitive performance under certain cognition-taxing factors that individuals encounter across their lifespan. These include stress, poor sleep outcomes, sedentary behaviour, and unhealthy dietary patterns, all of which have been shown to be associated with altered microbiome and impact global cognition or specific cognitive domains. In addition, we recommend identifying vulnerable populations that are either sub-clinical or that struggle chronically or periodically with one or more cognition-taxing factors, to better uncover the boundary conditions for prebiotic effectiveness. By broadening the scope of research to include diverse populations and challenging conditions in daily life or experimental settings, we can expand our understanding of the role of prebiotics not only in cognitive health or impairment, but also as potential preventative agents that may promote cognitive resilience during aging and in response to various lifestyle-related challenges.

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