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
| Clémentine Thabuis-Chair | Roquette | FR |
| Elaine Vaughan-Vice-Chair | Sensus | NL |
| Kristin Verbeke, Co-Chair | Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID) | BE |
| Paul de Vos | Centre for Healthy Eating & Food Innovation (HEFI), Maastricht University) | NL |
| Aurélie Goux | Cargill | BE |
| Jessica Van Harsselaar | Südzucker Group | DE |
| Georgina Dodd | Clasado | UK |
| Sofia Forssten | IFF | FI |
| Damien Guillemet | Nexira | FR |
| Alexandra Meynier | Mondelez International | FR |
| Robert Steinert | DSM-Firmenich | DK |
| Bernd Stahl | Danone Nutricia | NL |
*Scientific Advisor
For more detailed information, please contact Maria Tonti at mtonti@ilsieurope.be
Activity Overview
Ongoing
- 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: Q2 2026
In the Pipeline
- Role of prebiotics in better managing women’s health
The Expert Group will aim to understand the extent and mechanisms by which prebiotics impact the women’s health in different stages of life.
Expected kick-off: Q4 2025 - End: Q1 2027
- Prebiotics and Weight Management
The research group will explore how prebiotics support weight control, both independently and alongside GLP-1 receptor agonists. A workshop on GLP-1 analogues and health outcomes is planned for Q1 2026. The Expert Group will investigate key mechanisms, such as SCFA production, gut hormone stimulation, and microbiome modulation—with a focus on enhancing satiety, metabolic regulation, and treatment adherence. A key objective is to evaluate whether prebiotics can help reduce GLP-1–related side effects, such as gastrointestinal discomfort.
Expected kick-off: Q1 2026
Expert Groups
Markers of the gut microbiota
Background and Objectives
The aim of this activity is to establish standardized markers for assessing improvements in gut microbiota composition and activity resulting from dietary interventions. This involves identifying and evaluating relevant markers, such as microbial metabolites, for their predictive value regarding health outcomes and pinpointing overlooked indicators that may be crucial for assessing human health status. The activity aims to integrate various targets, including microbiota composition, enzymatic systems, microbial metabolites, mucosal integrity, and immune response, to enhance the accuracy and predictive power of these evaluations. This approach will help link changes in gut microbiota to health benefits from prebiotics and support the development of consistent and informative parameters for human studies.
Output
This activity will result in a Perspective Paper.
Expert Group Members
| Sahar El Aidy - Chair | University of Amsterdam | NL |
| Renate Akkerman | Maastricht University | NL |
| Paul de Vos | Maastricht University | NL |
| Kristin Verbeke | KU Leuven | BE |
| Anisha Wijeyesekera | University of Reading | UK |
| Jonathan Swann | University of Southampton | UK |
| Sofia Forssten | IFF | FI |
| Damien Guillemet | Nexira | FR |
| Alexandra Meynier | Mondelez | FR |
| Clémentine Thabuis | Roquette | FR |
| Delphine Saulnier | Novonesis | DK |
| Holly Sedgwick | University of Reading | UK |
Publications
A to Z
Dietary Probiotics, Prebiotics and the Gut Microbiota in Human Health
2022
Commissioned by the Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.
Gut Microbiota Functions: Metabolism of Nutrients and other Food Components
2017
European Journal of Nutrition 2018;57(1):1-24. Commissioned by the Functional Foods and the Prebiotics Task Forces.
Impact of non-digestible carbohydrates and prebiotics on immunity, infections, inflammation and vaccine responses: a systematic review of evidence in healthy humans and a discussion of mechanistic proposals
Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2025
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.
Prebiotic Effects: Metabolic and Health Benefits
2010
British Journal of Nutrition. 2010;104(Suppl 2):S1-S63. 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.
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Prebiotics, particularly non-digestible carbohydrates (NDCs), are increasingly recognized for their role in modulating immune responses in the gut, lungs, and urinary tract. This review systematically evaluates evidence from human studies on the effects of NDCs and prebiotics on immune markers, infection risk and severity, inflammation, and vaccine responses. Prebiotics such as inulin, galactooligosaccharides (GOS), and fructooligosaccharides (FOS) positively influence gut microbiota by promoting beneficial species like Bifidobacteria. They also enhance the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) like butyrate, which interact with immune cells via G-protein-coupled receptors, inducing anti-inflammatory effects. In addition to microbiota-mediated mechanisms, NDCs and prebiotics may directly affect immune and epithelial cells by interacting with pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), enhancing gut barrier function, and modulating immunity. A systematic review of human studies showed that prebiotics, including GOS, FOS, and 2′-fucosyllactose (2FL), reduced infections and increased IgA in healthy infants, while yeast β-glucan reduced respiratory infection symptoms in healthy adults. Yeast β-glucan and GOS supplementation resulted in improvements in NK cell activity. Some effects on vaccine efficacy were noted in young adults, but the overall impact of NDCs and prebiotics on vaccination and systemic inflammation was inconsistent. Further research is needed to clarify the mechanisms involved and to optimize health applications.
Keywords
prebiotic; non-digestible carbohydrates; immunity; infection; inflammation; microbiota
Read the full papaerCommissionned by the Prebiotics Task Force
One-pager
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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.
Commissioned by the Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.
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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.
Commissioned by the Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.
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One-Pager
Last publication one-pager
Completed Expert Groups
Overview of completed activities
- Role of prebiotics in bacterial and viral infection, and vaccination efficiency
- “Prebiotics Sandpit” Workshop: Identifiyng Knowledge Gaps and a Roadmap for Building an Health Claims Portfolio
- Role of prebiotics in cognitive functioning: What do we know and where to go next?
- Prediction of individual responses to prebiotics and probiotics intervention (collaboration with Probiotics Task Force)
- Understanding the Relationship Between the Molecular Structure and the Effects of Prebiotic Compounds on Microbiota and its Metabolites
- 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
- Updated concise monograph - Dietary Probiotics, Prebiotics and the Gut Microbiota in Human Health (collaboration with Probiotics Task Force)
- Revealing the Mechanistic Role in Human Physiology and Beneficial Aspects of Short Chain Fatty Acid (SCFA) Production in the Gastro-Intestinal Tract (GIT)