BioGaia and Gothenburg University patent “oxygen sensitivity” process for metabolic boosting probiotics

08 Aug 2023 --- Researchers at the MetaboGen – subsidiary of BioGaia – and the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have developed a novel method to overcome oxygen sensitivity to beneficial resident bacteria in the gut. The team has patented the method and the results are published in Nature.

Beneficial resident and anti-inflammatory bacteria such as Faecalibacterium prausnitzii are significantly reduced in people suffering from metabolic conditions and cardiovascular disease.

“The authors developed a method based on successive exposure of a strictly anaerobic bacterium, F. prausnitzii, to increasingly elevated oxygen levels in defined bioreactors, thereby obtaining a more oxygen-tolerant strain when exposed to ambient air while retaining its original probiotic capacities,” Gianfranco Grompone, CSO of BioGaia, tells Nutrition Insight.

There have been many attempts to develop next-gen probiotics to replace missing bacteria in people with an increased risk of disease. These bacteria are, however, nutritionally demanding, susceptible to oxygen and die seconds after being exposed to oxygen in ambient air. This makes it highly complicated to develop live bacterial products.

Training bacteria
In the study experiment, F. prausnitzii were co-isolated from healthy donors with Desulfovibrio piger. This sulfate-reducing bacterium has beneficial effects on F. prausnitzii in an entirely novel cooperative mode. The results can be found in “Synergy and oxygen adaptation for developing next-generation probiotics.” 

The researchers “trained” the oxygen-sensitive bacteria to isolate more aerotolerant F. prausnitzii creating a new patented method of overcoming the sensitivity and harnessing new patented strains. The method is still referred to by its International Publication Number.

Oxygen sensitivity is a characteristic of many gut bacteria and is independent of the co-isolation of the two strains.The patented method was developed by “training” the bacteria to isolate the aerotolerant bacteria.

“The authors showed a specific nutritional cross-feeding interaction between them. The two bacteria cooperate by exchanging metabolites which are important to each other to ultimately produce butyrate,” notes Grompone.

“In the presence of glucose, F. prausnitzii provides lactate to D. piger, which in turn produces acetate that is taken by F. prausnitzii to produce butyrate, which has beneficial effects on the intestinal cells and the gut barrier of the host,” Grompone continues.

Gut microbiota comprises trillions of microbes, including bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. They are essential in digesting food, eliminating toxins and activating the immune system. 

The science has progressed considerably, and specific resident bacteria for improved health can now be identified, for example, by producing butyrate to reduce metabolic disease, argues the study.

The “trained” bacteria have been deemed safe for human consumption. BioGaia is collaborating with the University of Gothenburg to investigate whether an intervention of the product improves blood sugar control in patients with prediabetes.

Gut research multiplies
The researchers state their study has limitations as they have not “explored transient or personalized gut microbiota responses to the administered formulation” because of limited longitudinal data. 

“We could not determine the molecular mechanisms leading to increased oxygen tolerance in F. prausnitzii. Nevertheless, we have developed an approach based on the syntrophic interaction between F. prausnitzii and D. piger, that leads to increased growth of F. prausnitzii and butyrate production in vitro and might influence butyrate production potential in vivo,” the researchers say.

“When these bacteria were grown together, both the biomass – in other words, the number of bacteria – and the production of butyrate – which has an anti-inflammatory effect – increased,” says Muhammad Tanweer Khan, first author of the study.A healthy gut microbiota is essential for digestion and immune health. 

“This will enable us to increase the production yield and to potentially increase butyrate production in the future.”

Earlier this year, the Microbiome & Probiotic R&D and Business Collaboration Forum Europe in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, revealed the latest developments in gut health. The forum explored several studies on gut health and its connection to anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and other brain-related health conditions. 

Two recent studies investigated the role of diets and eating patterns and the link between the gut microbiota, respectively, on developing or reducing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

US-based scientists at Harvard Medical School found a link between suppressing emotions and gut health among women but found no association with diets. Meanwhile, a China-based study found a link between Western diets and Crohn’s disease – a chronic inflammatory bowel disease in the gastrointestinal tract. 

Meanwhile, French scientists found a link between toddlers’ gut bacteria and a prediction of obesity by the age of five, predicted by Body Mass Index. The study evidences that the bacteria Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes are directly involved with obesity, as individuals with higher levels of Bacteroidetes were shown to be leaner. 

By Inga de Jong