The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotic (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

Episode 26: The role of microbes in gut-brain communication

/in Podcast, Season Two /by Laura

 

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

The role of microbes in gut-brain communication, with Prof. Emeran Mayer MD

Episode summary:

In this episode, ISAPP podcast host Prof. Dan Tancredi PhD welcomes guest Prof. Emeran Mayer MD, a gastroenterologist and researcher at University of California Los Angeles. They talk about the microbiota-gut-brain axis, covering its evolutionary origins and how this complex system works in the human body to support overall health.

Key topics from this episode:

  • Microbiota-gut-brain communication has a long evolutionary history: microbes have been around for billions of years and they stored a lot of information in their genes. At some point in evolution microbes got inside the digestive tube of a primitive marine animal called hydra and it proved advantageous for this animal.
  • The hydra shows the origin of the human enteric nervous system (ENS): microbes live inside this tube and transfer genes to the nerve cells of this digestive tube, showing the origin of neurotransmitters.
  • Today in humans the neurotransmitters influence gene expression of microbes and change the microbial behaviors; the metabolites produced feed back to the brain.
  • Prof. Mayer’s initial interest as a gastroenterologist was the ENS and how it regulates motility. Subsequently the ENS was found to regulate many gut functions. The gut also houses a large part of the immune system and a complex hormonal system, and all these systems are connected with each other and communicate with the brain.
  • There is an increasing understanding that many chronic diseases relate to Inappropriate engagement of the immune system, starting in the gut.
  • When Prof. Mayer started in the field, the term “gut health” did not exist. Now it’s a ubiquitous term which has associations with wellbeing, acknowledging the gut has influence on many other body systems.
  • The associations between gut (microbiota) and brain health started with provocative animal experiments from Cork, Ireland, in which researchers manipulated the gut microbiome and found changes in emotion-like behaviors of animals. However, it has been difficult to translate to human interventions.
  • How do microbiome-targeted dietary interventions affect the brain? We do know the “Standard American Diet” (deficient in fiber) has changed the gut microbes in a way that compromises the production and maintenance of the gut barrier. 
  • There are many misconceptions about “leaky gut”, but basically contact between beneficial microbes and immune system sensors stimulate the immune system of the gut to low-grade inflammation. This can alter the tight junctions, making the gut more permeable, and ultimately this can affect the brain. Diet can affect the role of microbes in maintaining an effective gut barrier.
  • Prof. Mayer describes how he ended up studying the microbiota-gut-brain axis – he would not have predicted how important and popular this field would become.
  • In the future, there will be more sophisticated and personalized interventions. He sees a paradigm shift happening from reductionist approaches in medicine to systems biological approaches. This field is making us acknowledge that diet will play a major role.

Episode links:

About Prof. Emeran Mayer MD:

Emeran A Mayer is a Gastroenterologist, Neuroscientist and Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, the Executive Director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress & Resilience and Founding Director of the Goodman Luskin Microbiome Center at UCLA. He is one of the pioneers and leading researchers in the bidirectional communication within the brain gut microbiome system with wide-ranging applications in intestinal and brain disorders. He has published 415 scientific papers, co edited 3 books and has an h-index of 125. He published the best selling books The Mind Gut Connection in 2016, the Gut Immune Connection in June 2021, and the recipe book Interconnected Plates in 2023. He is currently working on a MasterClass and a PBS documentary about the mind gut immune connection. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2016 David McLean award from the American Psychosomatic Society and the 2017 Ismar Boas Medal from the German Society of Gastroenterology and Metabolic Disease.

Episode 25: The effects of metabolites in the colon

/in Podcast, Season Two /by Laura

 

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

The effects of metabolites in the colon, with Prof. Kristin Verbeke PhD

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP podcast hosts talk about colonic metabolites with Prof. Kristin Verbeke PhD, from KU Leuven, Belgium. She talks about characterizing microbial metabolism in the colon and the consequences of producing various metabolites, both beneficial ones (such as short-chain fatty acids) and potentially detrimental ones.

Key topics from this episode:

  • Prof. Verbeke is a pharmacist by training, and now leads hospital breath testing and carries out research on microbial metabolites in the gastrointestinal tract, including how prebiotics and probiotics can change bacterial metabolism.
  • The majority of protein in the diet is digested in the small intestine, but about 5% of animal protein and 10-15% of plant protein reaches the large intestine to be fermented by the microbiota. This produces metabolites, which are shown in vitro to be toxic. However, in vivo there is less evidence of toxicity; the negative effects of these metabolites may be reduced by the interactions of different compounds in the colon.
  • Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are produced when the body digests dietary fiber, and Prof. Verbeke’s group and others are investigating whether they are responsible for the benefits of eating fiber.
  • Most SCFAs are quickly absorbed in the large intestine, and they serve as an energy source for the cells. They then travel to the liver via portal circulation, where they have additional functions. What’s left over reaches systemic circulation.
  • The difficulty is knowing how many SCFAs are produced in the colon, and how many reach systemic circulation. In one experiment, they labeled the SCFAs that were administered to the colon via capsule; 36% ended up in systemic circulation. Further, when SCFAs were administered at physiological doses the subjects receiving them (compared to placebo) showed a lower cortisol response to stress.
  • SCFAs also affect fat oxidation and fat synthesis in the liver. Their relevance to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease are being investigated.
  • It’s important to eat fiber, and lots of different types. After fiber consumption, SCFAs increase in a sustained manner and take about 8h to get back to baseline. But with SCFA delivery via capsule they spike quickly and then disappear.
  • As for coatings to deliver to the colon, some coatings are time-dependent, pH dependent, etc. and this is an area for further exploration.

Episode links:

About Prof. Kristin Verbeke PhD:

Kristin Verbeke graduated from the KU Leuven, Belgium as a pharmacist in 1991. She obtained a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Laboratory of Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry in 1995 and subsequently spend a postdoctoral period in developing radioactively labelled compounds. In 2002, she was appointed at the department of gastroenterology of the Medical Faculty of the Leuven University where she got involved in the use of stable isotope labelled compounds to evaluate gastrointestinal functions. Within the University Hospitals Leuven, she is responsible for the clinical application of diagnostic 13C- and H2-breath tests. Her current research interest specifically addresses the microbial bacterial metabolism in the human colon. Her team has developed several analytical techniques based on mass spectrometry and stable isotope or radioisotope technologies to evaluate several aspects of intestinal metabolism and function in humans (transit time, intestinal permeability, carbohydrate fermentation, protein fermentation, metabolome analysis). Collaborative research has allowed showing an aberrant bacterial metabolism in patient groups with end stage renal failure, inflammatory bowel diseases, irritable bowel disorders and alcohol abuse. These collaborations all have resulted in high quality peer-reviewed papers. In addition, she showed the impact of dietary interventions (modulation of macronutrient composition, pre- or probiotic interventions) on the microbial metabolism and its impact on health. As a PI, she acquired grant support from the university and different funding bodies and successfully completed these projects. Similarly, she supervised several PhD projects that all resulted in the achievement of a PhD degree. Her research resulted in over 200 full research papers. Together with colleague Prof. J. Delcour, she was the beneficiary of the W.K. Kellogg Chair in Cereal Sciences and Nutrition (2010-2020). She is the president of the Belgian Nutrition Society, the vice-chair of the Leuven Food Science and Nutrition Center, and the co-chair of the Prebiotic task force at ILSI Europe. Furthermore, Kristin Verbeke is the editor of the journal Gut Microbiome and member of the editorial board of Gastrointestinal Disorders. Kristin joined the ISAPP Board of Directors in 2023.

Episode 24: Reflections on the probiotic field and ISAPP’s role

/in Podcast, Season Two /by Laura

 

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

Reflections on the probiotic field and ISAPP’s role, with Dr. Mary Ellen Sanders PhD

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP podcast hosts talk about how the probiotic field has evolved over the past 20 years with Dr. Mary Ellen Sanders PhD, ISAPP’s outgoing executive director. She describes how ISAPP is a unique organization advancing the science in the field, highlights what she has enjoyed about being a part of the ISAPP community, and looks ahead to the future of the field.

Key topics from this episode:

  • Sanders describes her career path and how it led to her role with ISAPP. 
  • Both ISAPP and Sanders’ role have changed over time, but she always appreciated two things: great scientific discussions, and interacting with an excellent board of directors.
  • ISAPP has always been dedicated to following the science, highlighting where the evidence is but also the shortcomings of the evidence.
  • The development of microbiome science changed the field of probiotics but it remains important to focus on what probiotics can do for health, rather than what they can do for the microbiome.
  • Mechanisms are important to elucidate, but the most important thing is whether a product impacts health.
  • Sanders says regulations are needed and in the future she hopes regulators will reach out to the expert scientists more frequently and be clear about the standards they expect for a claim.
  • ISAPP meetings are unique–both scientifically enlightening and a lot of fun. Longtime ISAPP board member Gregor Reid had the initial idea for the successful ‘discussion groups’ held every year. 
  • In the future, Sanders thinks probiotics will be used more precisely, like medicines. But also the concept of live dietary microbes may become more popular, with quantities of safe microorganisms being consumed for health benefits.

Episode links:

About Dr. Mary Ellen Sanders PhD:

Mary Ellen Sanders, PhD has served in several roles within ISAPP. She was the founding president, executive science officer and executive director and has retired from ISAPP as of June 30, 2023. She is also a consultant in the area of probiotic microbiology. She works internationally with food and supplement companies to develop new probiotic products and offers perspective on paths to scientific substantiation of probiotic product label claims. She is the current chair of the United States Pharmacopeia’s Probiotics Expert Panel, was a member of the working group convened by the FAO/WHO that developed guidelines for probiotics and serves on the World Gastroenterology Organisation Guidelines Committee preparing practice guidelines for the use of probiotics and prebiotics for gastroenterologists.

Episode 23: Studying microbial ecosystems and how they support health

/in Podcast, Season Two /by Laura

 

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

Studying microbial ecosystems and how they support health, with Prof. Emma Allen-Vercoe PhD

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP podcast hosts talk about microbial ecosystems with Prof. Emma Allen-Vercoe PhD from the University of Guelph in Canada. Prof. Allen-Vercoe describes how her lab brings together information from microbial sequencing and culturing to learn about the human gut microbiome and how it supports health. She discusses what we know about the industrialized gut microbiome and possible ways to improve health by manipulating it.

Key topics from this episode:

  • What the microbiome is and the suite of tools that are typically used to study it.
  • Allen-Vercoe does both sequencing and culturing in her lab as well as metabolomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics to discover on a molecular level at what the microbes are doing. They have a model system called “Robogut” to study microbial ecosystems.
  • Culturing is still crucial and it’s important for trainees in microbiology to gain experience culturing organisms that are less straightforward to grow. The late Sydney Finegold inspired others to try culturing more challenging microorganisms.
  • The challenge of culturing is matching the techniques in the lab to what happens in nature when it grows. Her lab builds metagenome-associated genomes to be able to predict the particular substrates that a certain microbe needs to grow.
  • The “missing microbes” hypothesis is that the human microbiome has been depleted over a few generations in people from industrialized societies, and this correlates with an increase in chronic diseases.
  • The Yanomami people from South America have very diverse gut microbiomes and they share certain species with other non-industrialized societies very distant from them around the world, which are not found in industrialized populations. People in industrialized societies are never exposed to these microbes, but even if they were, the microbes might not stick around because the substrates needed to sustain them  (e.g. through the diet) are absent. 
  • The industrialized microbiome is not necessarily ‘bad’ but we do have to find out more about whether the lack of certain microbes has health effects. This is possible through the Robogut system, which can perturb microbial ecosystems and look at their behavior without affecting people’s health.
  • Fecal transplants have limitations, so they’ve started to work on therapeutic ecosystems. These are “clean” or defined ecosystems that can be administered therapeutically.

Episode links:

About Prof. Emma Allen-Vercoe PhD:

Emma obtained her BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from the University of London, and her PhD in Molecular Microbiology through an industrial partnership with Public Health England. Emma started her faculty career at the University of Calgary in 2005, with a Fellow-to-Faculty transition award through CAG/AstraZeneca and CIHR, to study the normal microbes of the human gut. In particular, she was among the few that focused on trying to culture these ‘unculturable’ microbes in order to better understand their biology. To do this, she developed a model gut system to emulate the conditions of the human gut and allow communities of microbes to grow together, as they do naturally. Emma moved her lab to the University of Guelph in late 2007, and has been a recipient of several Canadian Foundation for Innovation Awards that has allowed her to develop her specialist anaerobic fermentation laboratory further. This has been recently boosted by the award of a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Human Gut Microbiome Function and Host Interactions. In 2013, Emma co-founded NuBiyota, a research spin-off company that aims to create therapeutic ecosystems as biologic drugs, on a commercial scale. The research enterprise for this company is also based in Guelph.

Biotics in animal and human nutrition

Episode 22: Biotics in animal and human nutrition

/in Podcast, Season Two /by Laura

Biotics in animal and human nutrition

 

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

Biotics in animal and human nutrition, with Prof. Kelly Swanson

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP podcast hosts join guest Prof. Kelly Swanson PhD from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to discuss the role of biotics in animal and human nutrition. They review the criteria for prebiotics and synbiotics, then discuss how we gain knowledge about nutrition and the role of biotics in animals compared to humans.

Key topics from this episode:

  • A good argument can be made that biotics are essential for our diet; they are beneficial even if efficacy is sometimes difficult to prove.
  • Nutrients have an impact on the host’s health and simultaneously on the host-associated microbes.
  • Health benefits are essential to the FDA definition of fiber.
  • Antibiotics’ effect on the microbiota: short-term effects may be minor, but we still don’t know the long-term effects.
  • The synbiotics definition, criteria for products to meet this definition, and the health outcomes from using these biotic substances.
  • The difference between complementary and synergistic synbiotics.
  • When studying biotics in companion animals (cats and dogs), can results from one host be extrapolated to another host? Final studies should be in the target host.
  • Biotics are important in veterinary medicine and a popular topic of study.
  • Predictions about the future of nutrition science as informed by the microbiome.

Episode links:

Additional resources:

About Prof. Kelly Swanson:

Kelly Swanson is the Kraft Heinz Company Endowed Professor in Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His laboratory studies the effects of nutritional interventions, identifying how diet impacts host physiology and gut microbiota. His lab’s primary emphasis is on gastrointestinal health and obesity in dogs, cats, and humans. Much of his work has focused on dietary fibers and ‘biotics’. Kelly has trained over 40 graduate students and postdocs, published over 235 peer-reviewed manuscripts, and given over 150 invited lectures at scientific conferences. He is an active instructor, teaching 3-4 nutrition courses annually, and has been named to the university’s ‘List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students’ 30 times. He serves on advisory boards for many companies in the human and pet food industries and non-profit organizations, including the Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences and International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics.

Genetically modified microorganisms for health

Episode 21: Genetically modified microorganisms for health

/in Podcast, Season Two /by Laura

Genetically modified microorganisms for health

 

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

Genetically modified microorganisms for health, with Dr. Carlos Gómez-Gallego

Episode summary:

In this episode, ISAPP podcast host Dan Tancredi joins guest Carlos Gómez-Gallego PhD, from University of Eastern Finland, to discuss genetically modified microorganisms. They go over what genetically modified microorganisms are, their potential benefits over non-modified microorganisms, and how they might improve human health–in particular, diseases of the metabolic and immune systems.

 

Key topics from this episode:

  • Genetically modified microorganisms are those that have been modified using genetic engineering, giving them abilities they do not normally have. Functions can be either conferred or deleted. Different genetic engineering tools can be used – e.g. to make them produce therapeutic compounds, or make them increase degradation of toxins or harmful compounds.
  • One advantage over non-modified microorganisms is the potential to have continuous delivery of a therapeutic compound, and the potential to deliver it to a localized area in order to avoid unwanted interactions.
  • Genetically modified microorganisms have promise in metabolic and immune-linked disorders such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
  • In NAFLD, genetically modified E. coli Nissle can secrete hormones that are under-regulated or under-expressed. His group modified bacteria by introducing a plasmid that allowed it to produce aldafermin, an analog of the human hormone fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19).
  • With genetically engineered microorganisms, we must consider the benefits but also the risks. However, if it’s a therapeutic for a disease with few or no alternatives, there’s a strong case for developing them.
  • To increase efficacy and safety of these microorganisms, it’s possible to introduce sensors that produce the therapeutic in response to different stimuli. Also, it’s important to modify the bacteria so their use is controlled and they cannot spread. They can also be modified to avoid transmission of genes.
  • Are there market-approved genetically modified microorganisms? No approved ones yet, but some are in Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials.

Episode links:

About Dr. Carlos Gómez-Gallego:

I am a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition (University of Eastern Finland). I have completed two university degrees, one in Biology and another in Food Science and Technology, and an MSc in Nutrition and Health. I subsequently completed a Ph.D. from the University of Murcia, where I investigated the effect of infant formula processing on the content of polyamines and bioactive peptides, and their impact on intestinal microbiota and immune system development during lactation.

My research and interests are primarily focused on advancing the understanding of the impact of diet, food, and bioactive compounds on human microbiota and their association with human health. As part of the BestTreat project (https://besttreat.eu/index.html), I have co-supervised two PhD students (Johnson Lok and Valeria Ianone) who evaluated the potential use of engineered E. coli Nissle 1917 producing human hormones for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in a mouse model. The first publication has already been submitted, and the second is currently in process.

More info about my publications:
Research Gate https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carlos-Gomez-Gallego
UEF connect https://uefconnect.uef.fi/en/person/carlos.gomez-gallego/#information

How to navigate probiotic evidence and guidelines for pediatric populations

Episode 20: How to navigate probiotic evidence and guidelines for pediatric populations

/in Podcast, Season Two /by Laura

How to navigate probiotic evidence and guidelines for pediatric populations

 

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

How to navigate probiotic evidence and guidelines for pediatric populations, with Dr. Hania Szajewska

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP podcast hosts talk about evidence and guidelines for probiotics in pediatric populations, with Prof. Hania Szajewska MD PhD, of the Department of Paediatrics at the Medical University of Warsaw, Poland. They talk about some of the inconsistencies between different medical organizations’ guidelines for pediatric probiotic use, and how clinicians can move forward with recommendations based on the best available evidence.

 

Key topics from this episode:

  • Guidelines exist on probiotic use for gastroenterological issues in children, but there are differences (especially regarding acute gastroenteritis) between guidelines from different medical societies: European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) and The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA).
  • Realistic expectations are necessary when prescribing probiotics. Different probiotics have different benefits, but they are not a ‘magic bullet’. For example, the evidence shows certain probiotics for acute gastroenteritis reduce diarrhea by an average of one day. This could have a big impact on the quality of life of the end user, but for clinicians it may not sound like a lot so they must set expectations accordingly.
  • The market is overflowing with probiotic products, many of which do not have proven efficacy. This makes it difficult for end users and healthcare professionals to distinguish the best products.
  • Always look for evidence-based probiotics with documented efficacy for the indication for which they are intended.
    • Physicians have the ethical duty to prescribe evidence-based products (that is, clinically proven, effective products).
    • The exact strains and doses matter.
  • Formal training and education of healthcare professionals regarding the beneficial effects of microbes, the microbiome, and probiotics are currently lacking.
  • Is it more valuable to know probiotics’ mechanism of action, or to have evidence from clinical trials that they are effective?
    • Ideally we would have both, but since we don’t know the exact mechanism for all probiotics, positive evidence from clinical trials is crucial. 
    • We also need to make clear to healthcare professionals and end users what to expect from taking probiotics. For example, some probiotics reduce the chances of developing antibiotic-associated diarrhea by 50%. For colic, some probiotics can reduce the crying time by half an hour. These are modest benefits but for the affected individual they may be impactful.
  • For vulnerable populations such as preterm infants, we need high-quality products with proven safety and efficacy.

 

Episode abbreviations and links:

 

About Prof. Hania Szajewska: 

Hania Szajewska, MD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Paediatrics at the Medical University of Warsaw and the Chair of the Medical Sciences Council. Among her various functions, she served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition; a member of the Council and then as the General Secretary of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN); the Secretary of the ESPGHAN Committee on Nutrition. Most recently, she joined the Board of Directors of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP). Prof. Szajewska has broad interests in pediatric nutrition but her research focuses on the effects of early nutritional interventions on later outcome; and the gut microbiota modifications such as with various biotics (probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics). She is or has been actively involved in several European Union-funded research projects. She is an enthusiastic advocate for the practice of evidence-based medicine. Prof. Szajewska has co-authored more than 400 peer-reviewed publications and 30 book chapters. Citations >18,141. Hirsch index 72 (WoS, March 2023).

Questioning the existence of a fetal microbiome, with Dr. Kate Kennedy

Episode 19: Questioning the existence of a fetal microbiome

/in Podcast, Season Two /by Laura

Questioning the existence of a fetal microbiome, with Dr. Kate Kennedy

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

Questioning the existence of a fetal microbiome, with Dr. Kate Kennedy

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP podcast hosts tackle the debate on the existence of a fetal microbiome, with guest Kate Kennedy PhD of McMaster University in Canada. They talk about Kennedy’s recent co-first-authored paper in Nature, which concludes that it is not biologically plausible that the fetus harbors live microorganisms, and that previous microbial sequencing studies on the fetal microbiome did not account for the many sources of contamination.

 

Key topics from this episode:

  • During the last 10 years, a lively debate has emerged on whether humans harbor living microorganisms prior to birth. Some scientists have looked at fetal and placental tissues and amniotic fluid, and have ostensibly detected microbial DNA. But those results are being questioned, with the argument that the signals being found are not biologically plausible.
  • Kennedy et al. published an article in Nature that re-analyzed data and brought in experts from different related fields to help interpret the data. The conclusion is that the fetal microbiome does not exist. Previous studies have likely seen contamination during sampling, since it’s nearly impossible to collect samples in a sterile way following vaginal delivery; contamination can happen at different stages so stringent controls are needed across all these areas of potential contamination. Furthermore, live microorganisms in the fetus does not fit with what we already know in related fields of science.
  • The popularity of microbiome research may have made scientists interested in this topic, although sequencing by itself may not be sufficient to settle the question of whether a fetal microbiome exists.
  • Human cells have Mitochondrial DNA, which is bacterial in origin. In 16S rRNA gene sequencing, there is some overlap in what is amplified, and this could include mitochondrial DNA, giving misleading results. This was not accounted for in some of the initial fetal microbiome studies.
  • Bringing together disparate disciplines is inherently challenging. It’s very important to work to understand each other and understand the host and biological situation you’re dealing with.
  • If there were even small numbers of bacteria present in the fetus it would have huge implications for our understanding of fetal biology and immunology. One question would be: how is the fetus limiting growth of any microbes it harbors?
  • Despite the likelihood that the fetal microbiome does not exist, the fetus is not unprepared for the microbial onslaught after birth. The maternal microbiota and immune system can educate the fetus immunologically in the absence of fetal colonization.

 

Episode abbreviations and links:

 

About Dr. Kate Kennedy: 

Kate completed her PhD on the role of the maternal gut microbiome in perinatal programming in the lab of Dr. Deborah Sloboda at McMaster University. She previously completed her BSc and MSc in Biology at the University of Waterloo. Her research explores host-microbiome relationships in pregnancy, early-life, and aging to understand their role in modulating health and disease risk.  

Episode 18: The definition of postbiotics

/in Podcast, Season Two /by Laura

 

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

The definition of postbiotics, with Dr. Gabriel Vinderola and Prof. Seppo Salminen

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP podcast hosts join guests Gabriel Vinderola, PhD, Principal Researcher at the
National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and Associate Professor at University of Litoral in Argentina, and Seppo Salminen, PhD, Professor at University of Turku in Finland, to discuss the relatively recent definition of postbiotics and what kinds of substances are included in this category. They talk about the criteria for something to qualify as a postbiotic, common mechanisms of action for postbiotics, and how postbiotic science has brought new perspectives on the study of probiotics.

 

Key topics from this episode:

  • What are postbiotics? Dr. Vinderola and Prof. Salminen dive deep into the definition of postbiotics created in 2021 and what it entails.
  • Postbiotics, similar to probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics, must provide health benefits to the host.
  • The nature of the postbiotic preparation is important for its health benefits. When the inactivation process is changed, this can lead to altered health benefits, and clinical studies must be repeated to ensure the desired health benefits are maintained.
  • They explain why “inanimate” was chosen to describe the microorganisms / components in a postbiotic preparation. 
  • What is the mode of action, or how do postbiotics work? 
    • Postbiotics show similar mechanisms of action to probiotics, except for ones requiring viability, since postbiotics will not grow and produce metabolic byproducts in the host.
    • Postbiotics can benefit the host via physical interaction with the host epithelial and immune cells.
    • A primary mechanism of action is likely to be through activation of the immune system, through which postbiotics can affect inflammation and some disease conditions. 
    • Postbiotics may also affect the microbiome composition and ability to inhibit pathogens.
  • From a regulatory point of view, inanimate microorganisms may represent an easier category to prove safe for users. For industry, postbiotics may be more convenient with a longer shelf life.
  • Some controversy still exists around the ISAPP-led postbiotic definition, and this has led to valuable discussions that are crucial to scientific progress. So far the authors of the definition have defended their stance.

 

Episode abbreviations and links:

 

Additional Resources:

Postbiotics. ISAPP infographic (also available in Japanese and Spanish).

Behind the publication: Understanding ISAPP’s new scientific consensus definition of postbiotics. ISAPP blog post.

Definition of postbiotics: A panel debate in Amsterdam. ISAPP blog post.

 

About Dr. Gabriel Vinderola: 

Gabriel Vinderola graduated at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering from the National University of Litoral (Santa Fe, Argentina) in 1997. He obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2002 at the same University. He collaborated with several research teams in Canada, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Brazil and Finland. He is presently Principal Researcher of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and Associate Professor at the Food Engineering Department of his home Faculty. He participated in 1999 in the development of the first commercial cheese carrying probiotic bacteria in Latin America. In 2011, he was awarded the prize in Food Technology for young scientists, by the National Academy of Natural, Physic and Exact Sciences from Argentina. He published more than 120 original scientific publications in international refereed journals and book chapters. From 2020 to present, he serves as a member of the board of directors of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotcis (ISAPP). He is engaged in science communication to the general public through Instagram (@gvinde).

 

About Prof. Seppo Salminen: 

Seppo Salminen, MSc, MS, PhD, is a Senior Advisor, Functional Foods Forum (FFF) at the University of Turku. His areas of expertise are gut microbiota, probiotics and prebiotics, nutrition and food safety, and EU regulations. Seppo teaches the topics of lactic acid biotechnology, functional foods and EU legislation and conducts research into food and health, intestinal microbiota, probiotics, prebiotics, functional foods, food legislation, health claims, and novel foods.

Episode 17: Using metabolomics to learn about the activities of gut microbes

/in Podcast, Season Two /by Laura

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

Using metabolomics to learn about the activities of gut microbes, with Dr. Anisha Wijeyesekera

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP podcast hosts address the topic of metabolomics with Dr. Anisha Wijeyesekera, PhD, a Lecturer in the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Reading, United Kingdom. Dr. Wijeyesekera gives an overview of how metabolic profiling works, including the information provided by different biological samples, and discusses how metabolomics can be used to piece together the contributions of microbes to host health.

 

Key topics from this episode:

  • Dr. Wijeyesekera introduces the field of metabolomics and describes it as an essential part of systems biology. Metabolic profiling provides a real-time snapshot of the multiple metabolic processes going on in a system at the time the sample was collected.
  • Metabolites are the end products of metabolism; the gut microbiota is the most metabolically active of the microbiomes in the human body.
  • Methodology depends on what information you hope to uncover from your samples. Different biological samples (e.g. stool, urine, plasma) provide different pieces of information; this is cross-referenced with information on metabolic pathways.
  • One application of metabolomics is in identifying biomarkers that can predict patient outcomes. Identifying differences in microbes as well as metabolites could lead to the development of dietary-based supplements for patients to take alongside clinical treatments.
  • Changes in microbial composition may not be that meaningful if the bugs that change are doing the same thing in the end; this is what metabolomics helps uncover.
  • Metabolomics gives you insights into mechanisms when you have a probiotic or prebiotic trial with clinical outcomes. 
  • Short-chain fatty acids are metabolites that are frequently associated with health; changes in these is a clue that the gut microbiota has been impacted by the intervention.
  • Bile acids are metabolites that come from diet. Microbes convert primary bile acids to secondary, which circulate throughout the body. You can measure bile acids to see how gut microbiota are affected by an intervention.
  • Metabolomics is very promising and may be used in more probiotic and prebiotic studies in the future.

 

Episode abbreviations and links:

 

About Dr. Anisha Wijeyesekera:

Anisha is a Lecturer in the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Reading, United Kingdom. She previously worked at Imperial College London, where she also obtained her PhD (in Biochemistry). Anisha’s research applies a combined microbial and metabolic phenotyping approach, to better understand the tripartite relationship between diet, gut microbiota and human health. At the University of Reading, she conducts in vitro and in vivo studies for functional assessment of the gut microbiota, particularly in response to prebiotics and probiotics. The ultimate aim is to use this information to tailor nutritional or other interventional therapy to improve health outcomes.

Episode 16: The honey bee microbiome and potential for probiotics

/in Podcast, Season Two /by Laura

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

The honeybee microbiome and potential for probiotics, with Dr. Brendan Daisley

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP podcast hosts cover the honey bee microbiome with Brendan Daisley, PhD, who is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Guelph in Canada. Daisley explains how the honeybee microbiome is unique, why it’s important for bee health, and the potential for probiotic applications as well as the practicalities of how live microorganisms are delivered to hives.

 

Key topics from this episode:

  • Daisley’s research is motivated by declining bee populations and finding ways to find ways to stop this.
  • He originally researched how probiotics could have detoxification functions in humans; this led to the question of whether probiotics could help reduce the toxicity of pesticides in bees and possibly affect resistance to infectious diseases.
  • Each individual bee has a microbiome of its own. Unlike other insects, bees have a core, defined microbial community in their guts.
  • Surprisingly, no one has successfully derived a completely germ-free honey bee. Microbiota-depleted bees do exist, however.
  • Research is ongoing on how microbes may even enable life in bee species — e.g. the recent finding that pupation in stingless bees is triggered by fungi.
  • Bees are affected by pesticides; many pesticides also have antimicrobial effects, but regulatory agencies do not track these effects.
  • Supplementing bees with beneficial strains of microbes can improve bee health and resistance to infectious diseases. However, no good baseline studies have been done on the bee gut, so it’s difficult to know what’s ‘normal’ and what is missing. The Canadian Bee Gut Project aims to determine this.
  • It’s possible to try finding bees that may have had less exposure to pesticides, but it’s difficult to determine past exposure because bees are traded and sent all over the world.
  • Wolbachia is a valuable endosymbiont for bees, and acts like a ‘secondary mitochondria’ in their cells. Currently it is hardly ever found in honey bees, possibly because of chronic exposure to tetracycline.
  • Probiotics can be delivered to bees using a “BioPatty” or a spray-based formula; the delivery method is very important. Supplementing the hive with certain probiotics can suppress outbreaks of American Foulbrood disease when they happen.
  • Daisley and colleagues used 3 probiotic strains, which remain present in the bee host for several weeks. 
  • As far as potential prebiotics for bees, it has been observed that pollen fibers can beneficially modulate the honey bee microbiome.
  • The healthy honey bee microbiome should be dominated by lactic acid bacteria.

 

Episode abbreviations and links:

 

About Dr. Brendan Daisley:

Dr. Brendan Daisley is a postdoc at the University of Guelph (Allen-Vercoe lab) and the current President of the Students and Fellows Association of ISAPP. He graduated from his PhD in Microbiology & Immunology at Western University in 2021 (supervisor: Dr. Gregor Reid), during which he received several national awards including the Armand Frappier Outstanding Student Award, adjudicated by The Canadian Society of Microbiologists. Brendan has a broad range of experience in environmental application of probiotics to honey bees and, notably, he was the first to introduce the theory of ‘missing microbes’ within the field of honey bee microbiome research. During his PhD, he helped coordinate several large field trials across North America (mostly in Ontario and California) showing that supplementation of probiotic lactobacilli strains to honey bees could improve colony-level health outcomes. During his postdoc work, he has developed a microbiome database tool (BEExact) for improved detection of uncultivated ‘microbial dark matter’, established a bioreactor model of the honey bee gut microbiome (the RoBEEgut), and co-founded the Canadian Bee Gut Project (https://beegutproject.uoguelph.ca) – a nationwide crowdsourcing initiative that aims to deeply sequence thousands of bee microbiome samples to increase our knowledge on the multifactorial drivers of honey bee mortality.

Episode 15: A primer on prebiotics

/in Podcast, Season Two /by Laura

 

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

A primer on prebiotics, with Dr. Karen Scott

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP podcast hosts talk about prebiotics with Karen Scott, PhD, who is an ISAPP board member and Senior Research Fellow at Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen, Scotland. Scott describes what prebiotics are, as well as the latest thinking about how they fit within an overall healthy diet and how they confer health benefits through the gut microbiota.

Key topics from this episode:

  • Dr. Scott and colleagues at the Rowett Institute began many years ago by working on anaerobic bacteria from the rumen of animals, then started to focus on the bacteria in the human large intestine.
  • Prebiotics (see definition below) stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria in the human gut, and in doing so, benefit host health.
    Prebiotics alone cannot guarantee health: they must be consumed in addition to a healthy regular diet, which helps support thediversity of all gut microbes.
  • Prebiotics are not necessarily supplements; they are found in high amounts in many foods such as bulb-based vegetables, banana, and plantain. Around 5g of prebiotic per days is beneficial for health.
  • Not all prebiotics are equal: they each stimulate the growth of particular groups of bacteria. By definition, they must be selectively utilized (that is, some bacteria but not others must use them), and this differentiates prebiotics from fiber.
  • Some prebiotics are shown to improve gut transit (i.e. reduce constipation). One common example of the benefit of prebiotics has to do with bone health: metabolism of prebiotics in the colon tends to lower the pH; this increases calcium absorption for supporting bone health. Other benefits involve the production of short-chain fatty acids.
  • Bifidobacterium have traditionally been a group of bacteria targeted by prebiotics. Some Bifidobacterium produce lactate, and other bacteria produce butyrate (important for colonic health) from lactate. In healthy adults, there are bacteria that are equally or more important than bifidobacteria, however.
  • Prebiotics can target other body sites besides the gut.
  • Prebiotics that can be used by a bacteria in pure culture are not necessarily used by those bacteria within the ecosystem of the human gut.
  • New experimental platforms exist to see which bacteria are producing specific compounds on the growth of a specific substrate. But a model may not represent what is happening in the host, so this must be specifically tested.
  • Human milk oligosaccharides are a great example of how prebiotics are important to human health. Formula is often supplemented with prebiotics because of ample evidence that oligosaccharides (naturally present in human milk, but mimicked synthetically) enable growth of specific bacteria in the baby’s gut that are very important for immunity and other aspects of health.
  • Overall, to support bacteria in your gut and overall health, Dr. Scott recommends consuming a diverse diet: “eat a rainbow”. If you cannot, a prebiotic supplement is advisable.*

Episode abbreviations and links:

Dr. Karen Scott works at the Rowett Institute, a renowned centre focused on nutrition and human health.

ISAPP published the scientific consensus definition of prebiotics.

An early review co-authored by Dr. Scott, covering gut microbiota functions and their impact on host health via diet.

A review on prebiotics to support calcium absorption and therefore bone health.

Dr. Scott refers to a new tool: the Exploris 240 Orbitrap mass spectrometer, which is interfaced with an atmospheric pressure matrix assisted laser desorption ionisation (AP-MALDI) source and direct infusion. This theoretically allows scientists to measure the distribution and composition of complex gut bacterial communities, whilst simultaneously assessing metabolite production from the constituent microbes, allowing them to better understand the cooperation and competition between different human gut microbiota species.

Additional resources:

Prebiotics. ISAPP infographic.

Understanding prebiotics and fiber. ISAPP infographic.

The many functions of human milk oligosaccharides: A Q&A with Prof. Ardythe Morrow. ISAPP blog post.

 

About Dr. Karen Scott:

Dr. Karen Scott is a Senior Research Fellow at the Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen. She leads a research team investigating the (molecular) mechanisms by which key members of the gut microbiota interact with the diet and host, at different life-stages. The fermentation products of gut bacteria contribute to gut health, and are differentially expressed on different substrates, including prebiotics. In vitro bacterial growth studies utilising our large culture collection of gut anaerobes (in pure culture, mixed culture, fermentor systems, and also with human cells) and bioinformatic analyses illustrate niche-specific processes and bacterial interactions. Resident bacteria are also an important reservoir of transferable antimicrobial resistance genes, and other work investigates the evolution and spread of resistance from farm to fork.

Episode 14: Evidence on probiotics for preterm infants

/in Podcast, Season One /by KC

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotic (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

Evidence on probiotics for preterm infants, with Dr. Geoffrey A. Preidis

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP podcast hosts talk about probiotics for preterm infants with Geoff Preidis, MD, PhD, a pediatric gastroenterologist and researcher at Baylor College of Medicine & Texas Children’s Hospital. Predis describes the evidence on probiotics for prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis, the challenges in interpreting the evidence that exists, and using the evidence to make clinical decisions.

Key topics from this episode:

  • Dr. Preidis works mostly with preterm infants, a population that didn’t exist just a few decades ago.
  • In the totality of evidence on probiotics for treating or preventing certain health conditions, the largest body of evidence is on whether probiotics can prevent negative health outcomes in preterm infants. Large meta-analyses (>15,000 preterm infants, >60 RCTs) conclude that overall, probiotics reduce the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) by ~50%.
  • Probiotics do not appear to increase the risk of sepsis. In one case, contamination during the manufacturing process led to a severe infection and death. Although there is a very low risk of this happening, it highlights that a pharmaceutical grade probiotic is not available to give infants.
  • Many caveats accompany these findings, however. Trials use a wide range of products, as well as different strains, doses, durations of treatment, preterm infant populations, etc. Trials vary in their quality.
  • The body of evidence on probiotics for preventing NEC is convincing but far from perfect. Future trials need to continue reporting details on safety.
  • Some leading professional societies have issued guidelines that contradict each other.
  • How should clinicians make a decision, then? One way of choosing one therapy over another is to use network meta-analysis, which  ranks therapies according to which product might have greater efficacy than another. However, the most studied therapies tend to rank higher. 
  • Another way to make a decision is to consider looking at mechanisms. This is challenging with NEC, since we don’t know exactly what causes it.
  • Dr. Preidis is doing research on the association between early life undernutrition and increased risk of metabolic disorders later in life, what is known as the “thrifty phenotype” hypothesis. The mechanism may involve an epigenetic switch, whereby early life nutritional insult affects gene expression and metabolism in a long-lasting way.

 

Episode abbreviations and links:

This 2020 Cochrane Library review of probiotics for preventing NEC, mortality, and invasive infection (i.e. sepsis), found that “Combined analyses showed that giving very preterm and very low birth weight infants probiotics may reduce the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis, and probably reduces the risk of death and serious infection,” but also noted important concerns about the quality of the trials used to support these conclusions,  that, “further, large, high-quality trials are needed to provide evidence of sufficient quality and applicability to inform policy and practice.”

Study in JPGN showing metabolites and fecal microbiota in preterm infants are modulated according to the probiotics they are exposed to.

Network meta-analysis on how probiotics affect morbidity and mortality in preterm infants.

A recent commentary by Dr. Preidis on rational selection of a probiotic for preventing necrotizing enterocolitis

 

Additional resources:

Probiotics and Necrotizing Enterocolitis. ISAPP infographic.

Probiotics to Prevent Necrotizing Enterocolitis: Moving to Evidence-Based Use. ISAPP blog.

 

About Dr. Geoff Preidis:

Dr. Preidis received his undergraduate degree in Physics from Harvard University, then completed his medical degree, residency in Pediatrics, fellowship in Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition, and Ph.D. in Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine from Baylor College of Medicine. Now an Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, Dr. Preidis leads the Nutritional Physiology Research Laboratory and serves as an attending physician on both the Neonatal Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition Consultation Service and the Transplant Hepatology Service.

Dr. Preidis’s laboratory seeks to define mechanisms through which early life malnutrition impairs intestinal and liver function, leading to both short-term and long-term medical problems. Current studies focus on how malnutrition slows gastrointestinal motility, alters the gut microbiome, and inhibits the liver’s ability to synthesize important substances including bile acids – all of which adversely impact child growth. This research aims to help children suffering from nutritional deficiencies caused by a wide range of medical and socioeconomic factors, including premature newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Episode 13: The history of ISAPP

/in Podcast, Season One /by KC

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotic (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

The history of ISAPP, with Drs. Glenn Gibson, Mary Ellen Sanders and Irene Lenoir-Wijnkoop

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP podcast hosts talk about the history of the ISAPP organization with the organization’s three co-founders: Glenn Gibson, Mary Ellen Sanders and Irene Lenoir-Wijnkoop. The three guests recount the origins of ISAPP and the state of probiotic and prebiotic science 20 years ago when the organization was founded. They speak about some of the successes and challenges they encountered along the way, and highlight what they see as some of the key achievements of ISAPP.

Key topics from this episode:

  • The origin of the idea for ISAPP back in 1999: an organization dedicated to the science of pro- and prebiotics.
  • The annual meeting proved a key mechanism to gathering the multi-disciplinary scientists together to talk about and advance the science.
  • How ISAPP walks the line between receiving funding from industry members yet protecting scientific credibility.
  • The value that ISAPP has provided to industry members and the academic scientific community over the years.
  • How research in the field developed in the last 20 years and the questions that remain unanswered.
  • How industry members understood the importance of science 20 years ago and still do today, respecting the line between science and marketing.
  • Challenges from the last 20 years and where the field is going.

 

About Irene Lenoir-Wijnkoop:

Irene Lenoir-Wijnkoop is affiliated with the Utrecht University, specialized in public health nutrition and she provides independent consultancy services in related areas. She acts as associate editor in the Drugs Outcomes Research & Policies section of Frontiers. Through her passion for tackling preventable food-related diseases, which jeopardize healthcare resources, societies and human equity, she pioneered the field of nutrition economics.

After a first experience in clinical nutrition, she successively held assignments at the Dutch and the French subsidiaries of The Upjohn Company. When food industries initiated clinical research activities, she joined management and executive positions at the Danone Group. Besides her responsibilities, she got actively involved in ILSI Europe, in many international societies and advisory boards, primarily in the field of probiotics. She co-conceived ISAPP by enabling the first -seminal- meeting in 1999 in New York. In 2010 she was awarded with the Elie Metchnikoff Prize of Recognition.

 

About Mary Ellen Sanders:

Mary Ellen Sanders, PhD serves as the Executive Science Officer for the International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics. She is also a consultant in the area of probiotic microbiology (www.mesanders.com). She is the current chair of the United States Pharmacopeia’s Probiotics Expert Panel, was a member of the working group convened by the FAO/WHO that developed guidelines for probiotics, and co-chairs the World Gastroenterology Organisation Guidelines Committee for practice guidelines for the use of probiotics and prebiotics for gastroenterologists. She lives in Colorado with her husband, where she enjoys her 2 grandchildren, hiking and riding her aging Morgan horse.

 

About Glenn Gibson:

Born in an ambulance parked on a roundabout outside Littlethorpe Maternity Hospital near Sunderland, UK (his dad fainted). Failed scientist at school – a trait he has successfully continued to this very day. Has poked around in people’s faeces for over 30 years and as a result, has published over 500 research papers but do not waste your time reading any of them, as you will learn nothing. Before that he did a PhD on sediment microbiology and learnt a lot about what the great population (or poopulation) of Dundee flush down their toilets. 

He has supervised over 80 PhD students and 40 postdocs, who all said he was an absolute pleasure to work with and they wished their projects had lasted 10 times as long as they did. He is a compulsive fantasist. He thinks h-factor is a hat size. Has not done a day’s work in the last decade, largely because he spends all his time reading refereeing requests from journals he has never heard of, or grant bodies wanting reviews after spending decades bouncing every single one of his*, or conference organisers asking him to travel across the world (at his own expense) to give a talk or chair a session on anything whatsoever. Helped Mary Ellen, Irene and Gregor found the organisation most people call EYE-SAPP. 

Episode 12: Postbiotics and probiotics in Japan: A researcher’s perspective

/in Podcast, Season One /by KC

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotic (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

Postbiotics and probiotics in Japan: A researcher’s perspective, with Prof. Akihito Endo

Episode summary:

In this episode, ISAPP podcast host Dan Tancredi talks with food microbiologist Prof. Akihito Endo from Tokyo University of Agriculture in Japan, who was an author on the published ISAPP scientific consensus definition of postbiotics. Endo describes the unique properties of fructophilic lactic acid bacteria, and talks about the landscape of probiotic and postbiotic products in Japan.

Key topics from this episode:

  • Prof. Tomotari Mitsuoka originally introduced the concept of probiotics, prebiotics, and “biogenics” in Japan – the latter are similar to postbiotics.
  • Japan is a leading country in postbiotic applications, with many companies actively producing postbiotic products with killed bacterial cells.
  • Endo has done research on fructophilic lactic acid bacteria (FLAB), which favor fructose instead of glucose; they are found in flowers, fruits, fermented foods, and honeybee guts. 
  • Novel species of FLAB have been discovered recently, and Endo found novel bacteriocin-producing FLAB. The bacteroicins may be active against pathogens.
  • Dead cells of FLAB are present in fermented foods so they have a history of safe consumption. There is one postbiotic product with FLAB in Japan at present.
  • Endo tested fresh honey and found it has viable FLAB. After 2 weeks they die because of antimicrobials present in honey. But there’s a safe consumption history even of the viable cells, albeit at low levels. He is interested in exploring them as probiotics in food products.
  • The Japanese regulatory environment has two health claim systems for ‘biotics’: FOSHU, FFC. FOSHU is more restricted, while FFC can have more diverse health claims.
  • A large variety of postbiotic products are available in Japan.
  • One mechanism by which FLAB confer health benefits is through IgA induction (i.e. influencing immune activity).

 

Episode abbreviations and links:

The International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) consensus statement on the definition and scope of postbiotics

Mitsuoka T. 1998. Functional Food: Probiotics, Prebiotics, Biogenics. Intestinal Flora and Probiotics.

Mitsuoka. 2011. History and Evolution of Probiotics. Japanese Journal of Lactic Acid Bacteria.

Background on fructophilic lactic acid bacteria: Are fructophilic lactic acid bacteria (FLAB) beneficial to humans?

Viable fructophilic lactic acid bacteria present in honeybee-based food products

Japanese categories for health benefit claims on foods (for more details, see ISAPP consensus statement):

  •       FOSHU – Food for Specialized Health Use
  •       FFC – Food with Functional Claims

On Kikunae Ikeda’s discovery of umami: Glutamate: from discovery as a food flavor to role as a basic taste (umami)

 

Additional resources:

Behind the publication: Understanding ISAPP’s new scientific consensus definition of postbiotics. ISAPP blog

Postbiotics. ISAPP infographic

What is a postbiotic? ISAPP video

 

About Prof. Aki Endo:

Akihito Endo is a research professor at Department of Nutritional Science and Food Safety, Faculty of Applied Bioscience, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan. He obtained a PhD degree of Fermentation Science with a topic on Lactic Acid Bacterial Diversity during Shochu Fermentation at Tokyo University of Agriculture in 2005. After he studied as a postdoc in Stellenbosch University (South Africa) and in University of Turku (Finland), he started to work in Tokyo University of Agriculture in 2013. His research themes are ecology and food application of fructophilic lactic acid bacteria and oligosaccharide metabolism in human gut anaerobes. He is a member of Subcommittee on the taxonomy of Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and related organisms, International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes since 2011 and a board member of Japanese Society for Lactic Acid Bacteria since 2021.

Episode 11: How to build a satisfying scientific career and make a difference

/in Podcast, Season One /by KC

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotic (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

How to build a satisfying scientific career and make a difference, with Prof. Gregor Reid

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP podcast hosts talk about how to succeed as a scientist in the fields of probiotics and prebiotics with Gregor Reid, professor emeritus at Western University, Canada. Prof. Reid, who is ISAPP’s former president and host of the first ISAPP meeting 20 years ago, tells about his career path and shares ways to make a difference outside of the scientific laboratory.

Key topics from this episode:

  • The importance of keeping a sense of humor as a scientist
  • Sometimes it pays to do something unconventional: early in his career, Reid decided to work with a urologist who had a hunch that lactobacilli were important in women’s health; they had difficulty getting funding to investigate further but they persisted over a number of years and eventually published some landmark work
  • Reid (with others) investigated on how biofilms impacted clinical antibiotic treatments
  • When clinical problems drive the research, it can have great impact on people’s lives, yet it can take many years to progress from observation to mechanism to better clinical treatments
  • Probiotics are “an ecological approach to an ecological problem” but often the structures (funding, regulatory, etc.)  are not in place for scientists to study them or pursue them as interventions in industry
  • Prof. Reid has worked in South Africa, led by local people, helping them obtain tools for making fermented yogurt (Yoba-For-Life)
  • For early career scientists who want to make a difference in science beyond publishing papers, it’s important to be proactive and go after what you want
  • The right lab and the right environment are essential
  • Reflect on the personal connection to your work that “makes you almost unstoppable”
  • Partnerships are key for international impacts
  • Those involved in ISAPP can champion a cause that’s important to them within the organization
  • Flexibility will be key for probiotics (and other ‘biotics’) companies in the future
  • The field is poised to expand; all kinds of organisms will benefit from probiotics in the future

 

Episode abbreviations and links:

Landmark papers related to vaginal lactobacilli, biofilms and health:

Recurrent urethritis in women

Bacterial biofilm formation in the urinary bladder of spinal cord injured patients

Bacterial biofilms: influence on the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract infections

Ultrastructural study of microbiologic colonization of urinary catheters

 

Additional resources:

Reflections on a career in probiotic science, from ISAPP founding board member Prof. Gregor Reid. ISAPP blog

The Children of Masiphumelele Township. ISAPP blog

 

About Prof. Gregor Reid:

Gregor Reid is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Western University. 

Born and raised in Scotland, he did his PhD in New Zealand and immigrated to Canada in 1982. His research, most recently at Lawson Health Research Institute, has focused on the role of beneficial microbes in the health of humans and other life forms. He has produced 32 patents, 586 peer-reviewed publications cited over 50,000 times, has a Google Scholar H index of 116 and has given over 650 talks in 54 countries. He is ranked #3 in Canada and #59 in the world for  Microbiology Scientists by research.com. In 2001, he chaired the UN/WHO Expert Panel that defined the term probiotic. In 2004, he helped introduce probiotic yoghurt to East Africa as a means for women to create microenterprises that by 2019 reached 260,000 adults and children. 

He has received an Honorary Doctorate from Orebro University, Sweden, a Distinguished Alumni award from Massey University, New Zealand, a Canadian Society for Microbiologists Career Award and Western University’s highest accolade of Distinguished Professor. He is Chief Scientific Officer for Seed, a Californian start-up. 

Episode 10: How the ISALA project investigates what makes a healthy vaginal microbiome

/in Podcast, Season One /by KC

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotic (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

How the ISALA project investigates what makes a healthy vaginal microbiome, with Prof. Sarah Lebeer

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP hosts discuss what’s known about the healthy vaginal microbiome with Prof. Sarah Lebeer from University of Antwerp, Belgium. Lebeer describes the citizen science project she leads in Belgium called “ISALA” and outlines its findings to date. She also talks about important questions remaining to be answered in the field.

Key topics from this episode:

  • The importance and difficulties of leading a citizen science project.
  • How the ISALA project is expanding with sister-like citizen science projects around the world.
  • Research on the vaginal microbiota is important and fascinating, with a lot of  opportunities and a lot of unanswered questions.
  • The role of vaginal microbiota in maintaining health and protecting against various infections such as sexually transmitted infections and urinary tract infections.
  • What we know about effects of nutrition, behavior, the menstrual cycle, and pregnancy on the composition of the vaginal microbiota, and the stability of vaginal microbes over time.
  • Transfer of vaginal species during infant delivery and initial microbial colonization of the baby. Do daughters inherit their vaginal microbes from their mothers?
  • How screening of vaginal lactobacilli may create targeted probiotic treatments for particular conditions.

 

Episode abbreviations and links:

ISALA project website (English)

Important probiotic trials focused on women’s health:

Sustained effect of LACTIN-V (Lactobacillus crispatus CTV-05) on genital immunology following standard bacterial vaginosis treatment: results from a randomised, placebo-controlled trial

Randomized Trial of Lactin-V to Prevent Recurrence of Bacterial Vaginosis

Effect of Oral Probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14 on the Vaginal Microbiota, Cytokines and Chemokines in Pregnant Women

Efficacy and safety of vaginally administered lyophilized Lactobacillus crispatus IP 174178 in the prevention of bacterial vaginosis recurrence

Trials of vaginal microbiota transplantation:

Vaginal microbiome transplantation in women with intractable bacterial vaginosis

Additional resources:

Citizen scientists step up for a research project on women’s health. ISAPP blog

 

About Prof. Sarah Lebeer:

Sarah Lebeer is a research professor at the Department of Bioscience Engineering of the University of Antwerp, Belgium. She has studied bioscience engineering, with a specialisation in cell and gene technology/food & health and obtained her Master at KU Leuven (Belgium). In 2008, she obtained a PhD degree with a topic on the mode of action of gastro-intestinal probiotics in inflammatory bowel diseases and a scholarship in the team of Prof. Jos Vanderleyden (KU Leuven). After a postdoc on the interaction between lactobacilli, viruses and mucosal immunology, in November 2011, she was offered a tenure track position at the University of Antwerp. Since then, she is leading the Laboratory for Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology of the ENdEMIC research group. In 2020, she was awarded with an ERC Starting Grant that enables her to gain more in-depth knowledge of the evolutionary history and ecology of lactobacilli (https://www.lebeerlab.com). This rationale was also an important driving force to revise the Lactobacillus genus taxonomy with  a large international consortium. Within the ERC project, Sarah has also launched the Isala citizen-science project to gain new insights in the role of vaginal lactobacilli for women’s health (https://isala.be). Since 2018, Sarah is an academic board member of the International Scientific Association on Probiotics and Prebiotics (www.isappscience.org). Communicating about beneficial microbes and probiotics for experts and laymen is an important inspiration for her daily work. 

Episode 9: An evolutionary perspective on fermented foods

/in Podcast, Season One /by KC

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotic (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

An evolutionary perspective on fermented foods, with Assoc. Prof. Katie Amato

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP hosts talk about fermented foods and non-human primates with Katie Amato of Northwestern University, USA. Amato describes what she has learned from studying the gut microbiota of non-human primates and how it relates to our understanding of human and gut microbial co-evolution over time. She also talks about non-human primate behaviors around fermented foods and what they might tell us about the need for human fermented food consumption.

Key topics from this episode:

  • A list of species categorized as non-human primates.
  • Changes in the gut microbiota of primates depend on habitats and available food across different seasons.
  • Primates in captivity have a different gut microbiota from wild ones – for example, animals kept in the zoo have a lower gut microbiota diversity.
  • Fermentation as a process to improve access to nutritional components of food; knowledge about primates’ use of fermentation and their gut microbes can tell us something about early human evolution.
  • Primates may derive benefits from using fermented foods. Consumption of fermented foods (overripe fruits) by primates is linked to certain habitats and climate factors; some non-human primates appear to intentionally leave fruits to ferment before returning to consume them.
  • There are benefits to translating the knowledge obtained from studying gut microbiota of primates to humans. 

 

Episode abbreviations and links:

Dissertation study: The Gut Microbiota Appears to Compensate for Seasonal Diet Variation in the Wild Black Howler Monkey (Alouatta pigra)

Study: Fermented food consumption in wild nonhuman primates and its ecological drivers

Mentors mentioned: Kathy Cottingham, Matt Ayres, David Peart, John Gilbert, Mark McPeek, Craig Layne, Rob McClung.
Steve Ross, Alejandro Estrada, Paul Garber, Angela Kent, Rod Mackie, Steve Leigh, Rob Knight.

Additional resources:

Research on the microbiome and health benefits of fermented foods – a 40 year perspective. ISAPP blog
New ISAPP-led paper calls for investigation of evidence for links between live dietary microbes and health. ISAPP blog

 

About Assoc. Prof. Katie Amato:

Dr. Amato is a biological anthropologist at Northwestern University studying the influence of gut microbes on host ecology and evolution. Her research examines how changes in the gut microbiota impact host nutrition, energetics, and health. She uses non-human primates as models for studying host-gut microbe interactions in selective environments and for providing comparative insight into the evolution of the human gut microbiota. Her main foci are understanding how the gut microbiome may buffer hosts during periods of nutritional stress and how the gut microbiome programs normal inter-specific differences in host metabolism. Dr. Amato is the President of the Midwest Primate Interest Group, an Associate Editor at Microbiome, an Editorial Board member at Folia Primatologica, and a Fellow for the Canadian Institute of Advanced Research’s ‘Humans and the Microbiome’ Program.

Episode 8: The link between digestive symptoms, IBS and the gut microbiota: A gastroenterologist’s perspective

/in Podcast, Season One /by KC

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotic (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

The link between digestive symptoms, IBS and the gut microbiota: A gastroenterologist’s perspective, with Prof. Eamonn Quigley

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP hosts focus their discussion around irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) with Prof. Eamonn Quigley, MD, of Weill Cornell Medical College. Prof. Quigley says patients are increasingly curious about the link between IBS and gut microbiota. He outlines what we know so far about the etiology of IBS, and the evidence for how gut microbiota may contribute to the condition as well as possible interventions that target the gut microbes.

Key topics from this episode:

  • What are the symptoms of IBS?
    The typical symptoms is abdominal pain associated with a disturbance in bowel function which could be diarrhea or constipation, or even alternating between them, depending on the patient.
  • How prevalent is IBS?
    Estimates say 5-10% of all people globally have IBS.
  • What is the etiology of IBS?
    There is no clear cause for IBS identified to date. IBS has been linked to the gut-brain axis (as it often co-occurs with depression and anxiety), gut microbiota, diet, previous gastrointestinal infections (Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter infections), and antibiotic use. It is also more common in women.
  • How is IBS treated?
    Approaches have tended to focus on treatment of symptoms: for example, treating the pain or diarrhea. Diet has also become an essential part of IBS treatment. But overall quality of life for IBS patients is of crucial importance. The focus should not be only on treating symptoms but also on improving their quality of life.
  • Are probiotics effective for IBS? A short history and perspective on how to develop probiotics for IBS.
  • Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 infections in IBS patients – lessons learned from other viral infections. 
  • Is the gut microbiota the “Holy Grail” for gastrointestinal health? We still have a lot to learn, especially regarding clinical applications.

 

Episode abbreviations and links:

FODMAP: fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols (i.e. types of carbohydrates that are poorly absorbed in the small intestine).

EMA: European Medicines Agency (i.e. the European counterpart of the US Food and Drug Administration)

Study: Lactobacillus and bifidobacterium in irritable bowel syndrome: Symptom responses and relationship to cytokine profiles

CME course on digestion and gut microbiota: Android version, iOS version, web version

 

Additional resources:

I have IBS – should I have my microbiome tested? ISAPP blog
The Microbiome — Can it aid in the diagnosis and therapy of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)? ISAPP blog

 

About Prof. Eamonn Quigley:

Eamonn M M Quigley MD FRCP FACP MACG FRCPI MWGO is David M Underwood Chair of Medicine in Digestive Disorders and Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Houston Methodist Hospital. A native of Cork, Ireland, he graduated in medicine from University College Cork. He trained in internal medicine in Glasgow, completed a two-year research fellowship at the Mayo Clinic and training in gastroenterology in Manchester, UK. He joined the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 1986 where he rose to become Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Returning to Cork in 1998 he served as Dean of the Medical School and a PI at the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Center. He served as president of the American College of Gastroenterology and the WGO and as editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Interests include IBS, gastrointestinal motility and the role of gut microbiota in health and disease. He has authored over 1000 publications and has received awards and honorary titles world-wide. Married for over 40 years to Dr Una O’Sullivan they have 4 children and three grandchildren. Interests outside of medicine include literature, music and sport and rugby, in particular; Dr Quigley remains a passionate supporter of Munster and Irish rugby.

Episode 7: Evidence for probiotic use in pediatric populations

/in Podcast, Season One /by KC

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotic (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

Evidence for probiotic use in pediatric populations, with Prof. Michael Cabana

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP hosts discuss probiotics for pediatric populations with Prof. Michael Cabana, MD, MPH, from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. Prof. Cabana starts by acknowledging the gap between the demand for probiotic interventions and the evidence that currently exists for their efficacy. He gives an overview of the challenges in designing trials on probiotic interventions for children, and summarizes what the evidence shows to date.

Key topics from this episode:

  • A concerning gap exists between the strength of evidence for probiotic interventions in children and the high demand by parents for these interventions.
  • A clinician supports clinical recommendations if they are based on multiple high-quality randomized, controlled trials in different settings. Unfortunately, this level of evidence is often missing for pediatric interventions, including for probiotics.
  • A clinician is less concerned about what regulatory category (drug, supplement) a recommendation falls into, and more about the level of evidence supporting its use.
  • At a minimum, a clinician looks first for evidence of no harm.
  • Conducting clinical trials in children presents many challenges. What are the “5 Ds”, which make clinical studies in children different from those in adults, as described by Forrest in 1997?
  • A lot of adult diseases have roots in childhood, so understanding pediatric health is important not just for kids, but also for adults. Preventing adult disease starts at an early age. This is the ‘delayed payoff’ that Forrest refers to.
  • Compelling evidence exists for probiotic efficacy in children for a few endpoints: colic, antibiotic-associated diarrhea, and necrotizing enterocolitis.
  • When it comes to necrotizing enterocolitis, strong evidence, reproducibility, dose-response, and biological mechanisms are what give clinicians the confidence to use probiotics.
  • An individual patient data meta-analysis (a project that emerged from an ISAPP meeting), enabled combining data from numerous studies that looked at the probiotic L. reuteri DSM17938 given to babies with colic. An overall positive effect was seen. Factors that predicted success in infants were being formula-fed, being younger, and not being on proton pump inhibitors.

 

Episode links:

  • One of many reports on the growing market for probiotic products for infants and children 
  • Information about the 2003 Pediatric Research Equity Act (PREA) and the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (BPCA) mentioned in the podcast 
  • The 5 “Ds” in Pediatrics mentioned in the podcast
  • The TIPS study mentioned in the podcast is described here and here
  • The meta-analysis on colic mentioned in the podcast

 

Additional resources:

ISAPP Digs Deeper into Evidence on Probiotics for Colic with New Meta-Analysis. ISAPP blog
Probiotics to Prevent Necrotizing Enterocolitis: Moving to Evidence-Based Use. ISAPP blog

 

About Prof. Michael Cabana, MD:

Prof. Michael Cabana, MD, MPH, is a Professor of Pediatrics & the Michael I. Cohen University Chair of Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, as well as Physician-in-Chief, The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM). He is also a member of the United States Preventive Services Task Force USPSTF (here), a prestigious appointment for medical personnel to weigh evidence (risk vs. harms) on prevention interventions recommended in the United States. He is a clinical trialist (see the trials listed here), with a focus on allergy in children. He has also conducted trials using probiotic interventions. Prof. Cabana served on the ISAPP board of directors from 2008 to 2018. He has an MD from University of Pennsylvania, an MPH from Johns Hopkins, and an MA in business from Wharton Business School.

Dr. Cabana’s comments do not necessarily reflect the views of the USPSTF.

Episode 6: Mechanisms of action for probiotics

/in Podcast, Season One /by KC

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotic (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

Mechanisms of action for probiotics, with Prof. Sarah Lebeer

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP hosts speak with Prof. Sarah Lebeer of University of Antwerp, Belgium, to bring clarity to a commonly misunderstood topic: probiotic mechanisms of action. They discuss how probiotic mechanisms are often multi-factorial and difficult to unravel scientifically. Nevertheless, Prof. Lebeer describes five distinct mechanisms of action by which a probiotic may benefit a host.

See ISAPP’s other podcast episode on mechanisms of action, with Prof. Maria Marco: Why mechanistic research on probiotics is captivating and important.

Key topics from this episode:

  • Probiotics are live microorganisms with documented health benefits; their mode of action is multifactorial.
  • Mechanism of action is crucial in the probiotic field. This knowledge helps scientists understand how probiotics interact with the human host and the microbiota. However, even if mode of action for a strain is known it can be difficult to translate it into measurable outcomes for the host.
  • Probiotics can benefit health by five main mechanisms of action applicable at different body sites (gut, vagina, skin, nose, etc.):
    1. Modulation of microbe-microbe interactions by inhibiting pathogens and promoting beneficial microbes. This is based on the production of metabolically active molecules, such as lactic acid. 
    2. Enhancement of mucosal barrier function through interaction with epithelial cells, promoting the integrity of the barrier. 
    3. Modulation of immune responses by interacting with various immune cells. Interaction with the immune cells is also the clearest strain-specific capacity of probiotics.
    4. Modulation of metabolic responses by modulating insulin resistance or cholesterol metabolism. This mode of action is novel, and research is emerging.
    5. Modulation of neurological signaling pathways. This is also a novel mode of action with new evidence building up.
  • Postbiotics can have similar modes of action, provided the active molecules are not inactivated.

 

Episode links:

The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics consensus statement on the scope and appropriate use of the term probiotic

 

Graphical summary of 5 main mechanisms of action for probiotics

(Image by Sarah Lebeer. Image copyright.)

 

Additional resources:

Current status of research on probiotic and prebiotic mechanisms of action. ISAPP blog
Importance of understanding probiotic mechanisms of action. ISAPP blog

 

About Prof. Sarah Lebeer:

Sarah Lebeer is a research professor at the Department of Bioscience Engineering of the University of Antwerp, Belgium. She has studied bioscience engineering, with a specialisation in cell and gene technology/food & health and obtained her Master at KU Leuven (Belgium). In 2008, she obtained a PhD degree with a topic on the mode of action of gastro-intestinal probiotics in inflammatory bowel diseases and a scholarship in the team of Prof. Jos Vanderleyden (KU Leuven). After a postdoc on the interaction between lactobacilli, viruses and mucosal immunology, in November 2011, she was offered a tenure track position at the University of Antwerp. Since then, she is leading the Laboratory for Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology of the ENdEMIC research group.

In 2020, she was awarded with an ERC Starting Grant that enables her to gain more in-depth knowledge of the evolutionary history and ecology of lactobacilli (https://www.lebeerlab.com). This rationale was also an important driving force to revise the Lactobacillus genus taxonomy with  a large international consortium. Within the ERC project, Sarah has also launched the Isala citizen-science project to gain new insights in the role of vaginal lactobacilli for women’s health (https://isala.be). Since 2018, Sarah is an academic board member of the International Scientific Association on Probiotics and Prebiotics (www.isappscience.org). Communicating about beneficial microbes and probiotics for experts and laymen is an important inspiration for her daily work. 

Episode 5: Prebiotics for animal health

/in Podcast, Season One /by KC

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotic (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

Prebiotics for animal health, with Prof. George Fahey

Episode summary:

The hosts discuss prebiotics for animals with Prof. George Fahey, a prominent animal nutrition scientist who is currently Professor Emeritus at University of Illinois. Fahey explains how animal nutrition research relates to human nutrition research, and the changes in the field he has seen over the course of his long career. He describes the research on prebiotics for animal nutrition, covering both livestock and companion animals.

Key topics from this episode:

  • A short history of animal prebiotics research as well as future opportunities in animal nutrition.
  • Pro- and prebiotics are being explored as an alternative to antibiotic treatment in production animals. Antibiotics are overused, leading to an increase in antibiotic resistance; the “biotics” therefore have great potential in animal nutrition.
  • Probiotics can potentially be used instead of antibiotics to inhibit pathogens and support the gut microbiota in animals.
  • Prebiotics possibly have high nutritional value and beneficial effects in animals, especially in poultry and pigs.
  • There are limitations to using prebiotics in the animal industry, especially for some animals such as horses and ruminants.
  • There has been increased use of prebiotics for companion animals (pets) in the past few years. Now many pet foods contain prebiotics.
  • Benefits of using prebiotics in companion animals:
    •  Support digestive health
    •  Improve stool quality
    • Support the gut microbiota, which also translates to good stool quality
  • A short overview of how companion animals’ food is produced, and the timing of adding prebiotics.
  • Wild animals’ diet has low nutrition with limited to no prebiotic intake, resulting in a shorter lifespan in comparison with companion animals
  • Some take-home points from animal models and animal nutrition research.

 

Episode links:

Expert consensus document: The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) consensus statement on the definition and scope of prebiotics
The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics consensus statement on the scope and appropriate use of the term probiotic

 

Additional resources:

Are prebiotics good for dogs and cats? An animal gut health expert explains. ISAPP blog post
Using probiotics to support digestive health for dogs. ISAPP blog post
Prebiotics. ISAPP infographic

 

About Prof. George Fahey:

George C. Fahey, Jr. is Professor Emeritus of Animal Sciences and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He served on the faculty since 1976 and held research, teaching, and administrative appointments. His research was in the area of carbohydrate nutrition of animals and humans. He published numerous books, book chapters, journal articles, and research abstracts.

He currently serves on two editorial boards, numerous GRAS expert panels, and is scientific advisor to both industry and governmental organizations. He retired from the University in 2010 but continues to serve on graduate student committees and departmental search committees. He owns Fahey Nutrition Consulting, Inc. that provides services to the human and pet food industries.

Episode 4: Weighing evidence for probiotic interventions: Perspectives of a primary care physician

/in Podcast, Season One /by KC

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotic (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

Weighing evidence for probiotic interventions: Perspectives of a primary care physician, with Prof. Dan Merenstein, MD

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP host Prof. Dan Tancredi discusses evidence for probiotic interventions with Prof. Dan Merenstein, MD, a family medicine researcher based at Georgetown University. They discuss what it means to practice evidence-based medicine, and what kind of evidence clinicians should look for when deciding whether an intervention is appropriate. Prof. Merenstein shares how probiotic evidence has strengthened in the past few decades, and gives tips on what to look for in a probiotic intervention study.

Key topics from this episode:

  • What is evidence-based medicine, and why is it important to practice it? Evidence-based medicine provides proper care for patients at the appropriate time by focusing on the existing evidence provided by clinical studies.
  • What is evidence, and how do we obtain a high level of evidence for probiotics? Evidence should come from well-designed clinical studies. Animal and in vitro studies provide supportive preclinical information and mechanistic insights.
  • The quality of probiotic research has improved in recent years. Compared with decades ago, studies are more likely to be high quality and more likely to be properly-powered. Such studies have provided a clearer sense of the circumstances under which probiotics may – or may not – provide health benefits.
  • What is the proper way to report clinical trials in the probiotic field? Focus on the rules for conducting a clinical trial: for example, CONSORT (see below). Compliance is also important for good outcomes.
  • How can a clinician evaluate if a patient should use an intervention? The focus should be on the evidence for each intervention, the potential harm of the intervention, and the positive and negative outcomes.
  • Evidence-based medicine also needs to account for regional differences and where the clinical studies have been performed. Evidence about probiotic effects needs to account for microbiome differences and lifestyle differences between countries.
  • For which indications do we now have actionable evidence for probiotic use?
    • Use of certain probiotics together with antibiotic treatment to prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea
    • Use of an L. reuteri strain to reduce crying time for infants suffering from colic
    • Certain probiotics can help prevent traveler’s diarrhea or treat acute pediatric infectious diarrhea.
    • Probiotics to help with endpoints such as weight loss and metabolic syndrome, for autism and gut-brain indications, for skin conditions such as eczema and acne, and inflammatory bowel disease are active areas of research and soon scientists will have more answers.
  • Probiotic research is improving. Patients are using probiotics, and they are aware of the benefits of probiotics – Prof. Merenstein estimates that 80% of his patients are taking a probiotic. The job of the doctor is to get them to use probiotics in an evidence-based manner.

 

Episode links:

CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) establishes a well-accepted, evidence-based, minimum set of recommendations for reporting randomized trials.
IPDMA (individual patient data meta-analysis) – see this Sung et al. paper on infantile colic and L. reuteri
BB12: Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12, a well-studied probiotic. See this paper.
A priori: without prior knowledge

 

Additional resources:

The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics consensus statement on the scope and appropriate use of the term probiotic

 

About Prof. Dan Merenstein:

Dr. Daniel Merenstein is a Professor with tenure of Family Medicine at Georgetown University, where he also directs Family Medicine research. Dr. Merenstein has a secondary appointment in the undergraduate Department of Human Science, in the School of Nursing and Health Studies. Dr. Merenstein teaches two undergraduate classes, a research capstone and a seminar class on evaluating evidence based medical decisions. He has been funded by the NIH, USDA, Foundations and Industry, for grants over $100 million. Dr. Merenstein is the President of the board of directors of the International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics.

The primary goal of Dr. Merenstein’s research is to provide answers to common clinical questions that lack evidence and improve patient care. Dr. Merenstein is a clinical trialist who has recruited over 2,100 participants for 10 probiotic trials since 2006. He is an expert on probiotics, antibiotic stewardship in outpatient settings and also conducts HIV research in a large women’s cohort. He sees patients in clinic one day a week.

Episode 3: The science of fermented foods, part 2

/in Podcast, Season One /by KC

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotic (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

The science of fermented foods, part 2, with Prof. Bob Hutkins

Episode summary:

Before listening to this episode, it’s recommended that you check out episode #1, The science of fermented foods, Part 1. In this episode, the hosts continue their discussion of fermented foods with Prof. Bob Hutkins, University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Prof. Hutkins elaborates on how the microbes associated with fermented foods may confer health benefits, as well as how food scientists choose strains for fermentation. He emphasizes how the live microbes in fermented foods differ from probiotics.

Key topics from this episode:

  • Why working in the field of fermented foods is exciting and rewarding
  • The challenges for scientists, especially when it comes to designing clinical studies with various fermented foods
  • The benefits of fermented foods – from being safe as well as nutritious, to the health benefits that live microbes present in the foods can provide
  • How microbes are selected for fermentation; companies focus on strain performance – i.e., good growth and survival to preserve the food and provide a desired flavor and texture
  • The activities of live microbes present in fermented foods, from initiating the fermentation process to benefiting human health
  • The differences between probiotics and live microbes in fermented foods
  • How live microbes in fermented foods might affect your gut microbiota and why some scientists believe that fermented foods are important for getting regular doses of live microbes

 

Episode links:

Microbiology and Technology of Fermented Foods, 2nd Ed., by Robert W. Hutkins
The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) consensus statement on fermented foods
The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics consensus statement on the scope and appropriate use of the term probiotic
Gut-microbiota-targeted diets modulate human immune status, study by Stanford researchers

 

Additional resources:

Expert consensus document: The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) consensus statement on the definition and scope of postbiotics.
Postbiotics. ISAPP infographic
Fermented foods. ISAPP infographic
What are fermented foods? ISAPP video
Do fermented foods contain probiotics? ISAPP blog post
How are probiotic foods and fermented foods different? ISAPP infographic
Are fermented foods probiotics? Webinar by Mary Ellen Sanders, PhD

 

About Prof. Bob Hutkins:

Bob Hutkins is the Khem Shahani Professor of Food Microbiology at the University of Nebraska. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and was a postdoctoral fellow at Boston University School of Medicine. Prior to joining the University of Nebraska, he was a research scientist at Sanofi Bio Ingredients.

The Hutkins Lab studies bacteria important in human health and in fermented foods. His group is particularly interested in understanding factors affecting persistence and colonization of probiotic bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract and how prebiotics shift the intestinal microbiota and metabolic activities. The lab also conducts clinical studies using combinations of pro- and prebiotics (synbiotics) to enhance health outcomes. More recently we have developed metagenome-based models that can be used in personalized nutrition.

Professor Hutkins has published widely on probiotics, prebiotics, and fermented foods and is the author of the recently published 2nd edition of Microbiology and Technology of Fermented Foods.

Episode 2: Why mechanistic research on probiotics is captivating and important

/in Podcast, Season One /by KC

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

The Science, Microbes & Health Podcast 

This podcast covers emerging topics and challenges in the science of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics and fermented foods. This is the podcast of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotic (ISAPP), a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the science of these fields.

Why mechanistic research on probiotics is captivating and important, with Prof. Maria Marco

Episode summary:

In this episode, the ISAPP hosts discuss probiotic mechanisms of action with Prof. Maria Marco, University of California, Davis. Prof. Marco is a well-known probiotic researcher with special expertise in food-associated lactobacilli. Here she explains how studying probiotics in food science can lead to fundamental insights in biology. She shares why it’s important to understand probiotic mechanisms of action, and describes how scientists go about identifying which compounds or pathways are important for probiotic health effects.

Key topics from this episode:

  • The search for probiotic mechanisms of action: why this research is essential and the added value of this type of research for the end consumer.
  • What we now understand about probiotic mode of action: probiotic mode of action for different strains is mediated by multiple working mechanisms, from cell-wall-associated molecules to bacteriocin production and metabolite synthesis.
  • How researchers set the stage for studying probiotics’ mode of action, from large scale screening, to molecular techniques focusing on single molecules and genome comparisons between strains.
  • Whether we need to apply something similar to Koch’s postulates when talking about the effects of probiotics.
  • The potential effects of food or delivery matrix on a probiotic mechanism of action.  
  • What we can learn from the postbiotic research, which can help inform probiotic mechanisms of action.
  • The most exciting developments in probiotic mode of action research in the past 10 years and the future of this area of research.

 

Episode links:

The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics consensus statement on the scope and appropriate use of the term probiotic
Prof. Marco refers to two of her mentors, Willem De Vos and Michiel Kleerebezem
See this overview of Koch’s postulates

 

Additional resources:

Bacterial genes lead researchers to discover a new way that lactic acid bacteria can make energy and thrive in their environments, ISAPP blog post featuring recent work from Prof. Marco’s lab

 

About Prof. Maria Marco:

Maria Marco is a Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology and Chair of the Food Science Graduate Group at the University of California, Davis. She received her PhD in microbiology from the University of California, Berkeley and then was a postdoc and project leader at NIZO Food Research, The Netherlands. Dr. Marco has 20 years’ experience investigating fermented foods, probiotics, and diet-dependent, host-microbe interactions in digestive tract. Her laboratory at UC Davis is broadly engaged in the study of food and intestinal microbiomes and the ecology and genetics of lactic acid bacteria.