Task Force Information
Objectives
Consumers, the scientific community, regulators and the food and dietary supplement industry show increasing interest in probiotics and their health benefits. The attention of the task force is thus focused on the understanding of the role of probiotics in health and disease, their mechanisms of action while increasing awareness of their direct/indirect benefits on health.
Task Force Members
| Marc Heyndrickx* – Co-Chair | Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO) | Scientific Director | BE |
| Arthur Ouwehand – Chair | International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) | R&D Group Manager | FI |
| Soheil Varasteh | DSM-Firmenich | Translational Science Lead | DK |
| Vicenta Garcia Campayo | Cargill | Principal Scientist | USA |
| Nikoletta Vidra | Yakult Europe | BE | |
| Jonathan Lane | H&H Group | Senior Manager, Global Research | IE |
| Carolien van Loo-Bouwman | Yili Research Center Europe | Managing Director | NL |
| Delphine Saulnier | Novonesis | Science Manager | DE |
| David Perez Pascual | Danone Nutricia Research | Team Leader Culture Collection | FR |
| Daniella Lucena | Arla Foods | Chief Scientist | DE |
| Benjamin Anderschou Holbech Jensen* | University of Copenhagen | Assist. Professor, Head of Nutritional Immunology | DK |
| Georgia Chatonidi | ILSI Europe | Scientific Project Manager | BE |
* Scientific Advisors
Contact Information
For more detailed information, please contact Georgia Chatonidi at gchatonidi@ilsieurope.be
Activity Overview
Ongoing Activities
- Benefits, Challenges, and Opportunities with Changes in the Maternal Microbiome
Through a narrative review, experts will develop an inventory of microbiota changes associated with physiological temporal changes in the maternal microbiota before, during and after pregnancy as well as with related clinical observations, and highlight mother and/or infant health benefits and challenges associated with those changes.
Start date: December 2023 | End date: Q4 2024
Upcoming Activities
- Probiotic Clinical Study Design
The Expert Group will work on recommendations and a decision tree for designing effective probiotic clinical studies. This initiative will bring together experts from academia, industry, and regulatory bodies to enhance research quality by establishing reporting guidelines, streamlining study design, and developing reliable protocols tailored to the unique nature of live microbes.
The activity will involve a workshop on the 3rd of April 2025, at ILSI Europe office in Brussels. More info for the workshop to be announced soon.
Start date: Q4 2024 - End date: Q4 2025
- Markers of the Gut Microbiota
The group aims to identify key markers for assessing microbiota improvement, focusing on measurable indicators of microbiota composition and activity that are relevant to human health. This activity will address the need for standardized markers to evaluate dietary interventions, combining various indicators for comprehensive evaluation. The activity is shared with the Prebiotics Task Force.
Start date: Q4 2024 - End date: Q1 2026
Expert Groups
Benefits, challenges, and opportunities with changes in the maternal microbiome before and during pregnancy
Background and objectives
During pregnancy, the maternal microbiota undergoes intricate changes in the gut, vagina, and endometrium, playing a pivotal role in maternal and fetal health. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of the maternal microbiome in ensuring a healthy pregnancy, while also linking it to potential complications like preterm birth. Exploring these dynamic microbial shifts and their impact on health outcomes is essential.
Despite probiotics not being a standard practice in pregnancy, understanding the microbiota changes—whether natural or induced—before and during pregnancy is crucial given their significance in maternal health outcomes. By delving into the mechanisms behind these microbial alterations and analyzing insights from probiotic clinical studies, experts aim to identify ways to optimize maternal health during pregnancy.
This expert group delves into the mechanistic consequences of maternal microbiota changes and early observations from probiotic studies to maximize the use of probiotics during pregnancy, drawing from current scientific literature and clinical data.
Output
Narrative review
Expert group members
| Eduard Flores Ventura, Chair | Department of Biotechnology, IATA-CSIC | Global Public Health Scientist | ES |
| Jonathan Lane | H&H group | Associate Director | IE |
| Nikoletta Vidra | Yakult Europe | BE | |
| Adrienne Weiss | Yili Innovation Center Europe | Innovation Project Leader | NL |
| Maria Carmen Collado | Spanish National Research Council | ES | |
| Omry Koren | Tel Aviv University | Professor | IS |
| Sondra Turjeman, | Tel Aviv University | Researcher | IS |
Probiotic Clinical Study Design
Background and Objectives
The aim of this activity is to develop recommendations and a decision tree for designing effective probiotic clinical studies, taking into account the unique characteristics of live microbes. This initiative will gather input from experts in academia, CROs, industry, and regulatory bodies to enhance the quality and outcomes of probiotic research. The objectives include: (1) organizing a consensus workshop to establish proper reporting guidelines, (2) generating a decision tree to streamline study design, and (3) recommending study protocols that ensure control and reliability. The activity will also focus on identifying appropriate study designs for various research purposes and highlighting critical considerations specific to probiotics, including the importance of accurate study reporting.
Output
This activity will result in recommendations/ decision tree to optimize study design, taking into account the unique, live nature of probiotics.
Expert Group Members
| Hania Szajewska | University of Warsaw | PL |
| Adele Costabile | University of Roehampton | UK |
| Marc Benninga | Emma Children’s Hospital, AMC | NL |
| Francisco Guarner | University Hospital Vall d’Hebron | ES |
| Gemma Walton | University of Reading | UK |
| Patricia Sanz Morales | University of Reading | UK |
| Arthur Ouwehand | IFF | FI |
| Jonathan Lane | H&H Group | IE |
| Nikoletta Vidra | Yakult Europe | NL |
| Carolien van Loo-Bouwman | Yili | NL |
Publications
Oldest to Newest
Can Probiotics Modulate Human Disease by Impacting Intestinal Barrier Function?
2017
Understanding Mode of Action can Drive the Translational Pipeline Towards more Reliable Health Benefits for Probiotics
2018
Current Opinion in Biotechnology (2018). Commissioned by the Probiotics Task Force.
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.
Dietary Probiotics, Prebiotics and the Gut Microbiota in Human Health
2022
Commissioned by the Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.
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.
- 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 ) [4] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 12002 [post_author] => 24 [post_date] => 2022-10-10 06:10:44 [post_date_gmt] => 2022-10-10 06:10:44 [post_content] =>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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One-Pager
Completed Expert Groups
Overview of completed activities since 2021
- Prediction of individual responses to prebiotics and probiotics intervention (collaboration Prebiotics Task Force)
- 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 Prebiotics Task Forces
- Updated concise monograph - Dietary Probiotics, Prebiotics and the Gut Microbiota in Human Health (collaboration with Probiotics Task Force)