Gut microbiota can be modified by diet, medications and other lifestyle factors. Current scientific data show that understanding microbiome composition and diversity may not inform a causal link to health benefits.  However, at this time, there exists no valid, noninvasive tool to monitor gut microbe activities in real time. The need to identify microbiome-related biomarkers of health in stool, blood or urine is paramount to understanding what microbiome function means for health. Thus, research on gut microbiome has moved to elucidate gut microbe function, e.g., through examination of metabolite production and change.

There is a need to identify metabolites that are physiologically relevant and may serve as biomarkers for health. One way to start linking diet-induced changes in the gut microbiome and microbially derived metabolites to health is understanding whether a change in presence or quantity is clinically significant, such as short-chain fatty acids from fibers, indole and phenols from proteins, and trimethylamine from choline and creatine. Given individual variability, a review of metabotypes that are linked to indicators of health and diet/food/nutrient could be a start; followed by evaluating the microbial compositions that are linked to those metabotypes.

The objective of this project is to ultimately identify candidate microbially-derived metabolites or metabotypes that may be indicators of a health effect. Through this project, the intention is to: 1) initiate a dialogue on what changes in microbially-produced metabolites are derived from dietary constituents; 2) identify metabolites or metabotypes that show promise for a link to health outcomes/impact, as well as data gaps to achieve this level of knowledge; and 3) identify and describe what is needed to link to a physiological effect (e.g., quantities of a metabolite sustained over a specific time period) and/or ideally, a health outcome.

Proposals are due July 15, 2020

Access the full Request for Proposals.

This work is supported by the ILSI North America Gut Microbiome Committee.

Low calorie sweeteners (LCSs) have been acknowledged as a tool for lowering sugar intake in meal planning for diabetes management. They may also help to improve Quality of Life (QoL), by enabling more satisfactory meals. LCS in place of sugars also helps reduce total carbohydrate in the diet, helping to manage post-absorptive blood sugar levels. A recent systematic review sponsored by the World Health Organization and designed to investigate the effects of LCS use for people with types I and II diabetes included health related QoL as an outcome measure. However, no data were identified in the peer-reviewed literature that met the inclusion-exclusion criteria specified. Authors concluded that data on this patient-important outcome were “scarce or lacking”. This project aims to further the understanding of the impact of Medical Nutrition Therapy that includes LCS on QoL for individuals with newly diagnosed diabetes and their families.

Access the full Request for Proposals.

Please submit proposals by 12:00 a.m. EDT on August 15, to Marie Latulippe (mlatulippe@ilsi.org).