Use of fecal micrornas as biomarkers for probiotic administration

益生菌是在食品或补充剂中提供的有益微生物。不幸的是，由于缺乏可测量的生物标记物，即与益生菌摄入量相关的分子，益生菌的充分开发受到阻碍。最近，在粪便中以一种可重复的方式检测到了称为microRNA的小分子。该项目的目的是确定这些粪便微小RNA是否可以用作益生菌摄入量的生物标志物。这个Engage Plus项目建立在早期的Engage Grant项目的基础上，该项目使用了之前从服用益生菌的个人身上收集的粪便样本，并确定了感兴趣的候选粪便microRNA。这项Engage Plus赠款将允许对更多的粪便样本进行分析，以确认先前获得的结果，并确认感兴趣的粪便微小RNA的鉴定。这将有助于行业合作伙伴筛选和评估他们的益生菌。它还将使加拿大处于细菌-宿主相互作用研究的前沿，并帮助消费者 在购买这些产品时做出更明智的选择。

Probiotics are beneficial microorganisms delivered in foods or supplements. Unfortunately, a full exploitation of probiotics is hampered by the lack of measurable biomarkers, that is molecules that are associated with their intake. Recently, small molecules called microRNA have been detected in the feces in a reproducible manner. The aim of this project is to determine if these fecal microRNA can be used as biomarkers of probiotic intake. This Engage Plus projects builds on an earlier Engage Grant that used fecal samples previously collected from individuals taking probiotics and identified candidate fecal microrna of interest. This Engage Plus grant will allow the analysis of additional fecal samples to confirm the results previously obtained and confirm the identification of the fecal microRNA of interest. This will help the industry partner to screen and evaluate their probiotics. It will also put Canada at the forefront of bacteria-host interaction research and help consumers to make better informed choices when purchasing these products.