Effects of dietary nucleotides on gut microbiota studied with in vitro fermentation models – Industry

Human milk is known to contain significantly higher amounts of free nucleotides compared to mature cows’ milk. However, although nucleotides have been added to some infant formulas for many years, relatively few data support their benefits and use in humans. A significant pool of dietary nucleotides can reach the colon and may be available for the colonic gut microbiota. However, until now the effects of nucleotides on gut microbiota composition and metabolic activities have been little studied and published data remain controversial.

The main objective of this project is the investigation of the effects of nucleotides, as pure compounds or yeast extracts of different nucleotide composition, on different gut microbiota composition (infant healthy and infected, adult, and elderly) using in vitro gut fermentation models of the PolyFermS platform based on continuous fermentation and fecal microbiota immobilization combined with cellular models. This knowledge for the development of new preventive and therapeutic approaches directed towards bacterial infections in the gut.