Manipulation of gut microbiota through the consumption of dairy products

牛奶和乳制品继续在加拿大人的饮食中发挥重要作用，越来越多的证据表明，消费此类产品可促进肠道健康。拟议的研究旨在更好地了解递送系统和功能分子在我们胃肠道中的有益作用，特别关注乳制品系统。人们越来越认识到，食品结构和加工变化（即发酵、加热、均质化）是确保成分功能性增强和分子在通过胃肠道过程中保持所需活性的关键。这项拟议的研究旨在研究乳制品成分在肠道中转化为有益健康的分子的机制。对这些机制的更好理解将导致开发在胃肠道转运期间具有最佳生物活性的乳制品系统，并开发通过食用乳制品及其组分来操纵肠道微生物群的方法。然而，在开发这些产品之前，需要更多的信息来支持任何健康声明。本提案旨在通过展示活性成分的靶向递送来提供此类信息。 我们建议使用一个复杂的多阶段连续培养系统（人体肠道微生物生态系统模拟器，SHIME）来模拟肠道活动，并了解食物基质，消化过程中存在或形成的生物活性分子和肠道微生物群之间相互作用的动态。SHIME还将用于研究乳制品基质中的生物活性、预防或治疗分子与肠道致病菌之间的相互作用。

Milk and dairy products continue to play a significant role in the diets of Canadians, and there is increasing evidence that consumption of such products promote gut health. The proposed research aims at a better understanding of the beneficial effect of delivery systems and functional molecules in our gastro-intestinal tract, with particular focus on dairy systems. It is becoming increasingly recognized that food structure and the processing changes (i.e. fermentation, heat, homogenization) are key to ensure that the functionality of the ingredients is amplified and the molecules retain the wanted activity during passage through the gastrointestinal tract. The proposed research aims at studying the mechanisms by which dairy components are converted in the gut to molecules that confer health benefits. A better understanding of these mechanisms will result in the development of dairy systems with optimal bioactivity during gastrointestinal transit and development of methods to manipulate the gut microbiota through the consumption of dairy products and their components. However, before such products can be developed much more information is required to support any health claims. This proposal seeks to provide such information, by demonstrating targeted delivery of active components. We are proposing to use a complex multistage continuous culture system (simulator of the human intestinal microbial ecosystem, SHIME) to simulate gut activity and understand the dynamics of the interactions between the food matrix, the bioactive molecules present or formed during digestion, and the gut microbiota. The SHIME will also be used to study the interactions between bioactive, prophylactic or therapeutic molecules present in dairy matrices with enteric, pathogenic bacteria.