HMOs show direct positive health effects independent of the gut microbiome
20 Jun 2023 | Chr. Hansen
Yannik Schönknecht, a scientific advisor at Chr. Hansen, takes us through the latest Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) research and reveals what is coming up in this field. Schönknecht says that HMOs are prebiotic and have been shown to bring several health benefits independent of the gut microbiome. He predicts that improved technologies and production capabilities will drive the increased interest in the gut microbiome.
This is Beatrice Vilander reporting for Nutrition Insight.
I'm here with Jannik Schoen Knecht from Christian Hansen, who is a scientific advisor.
Welcome.
Thank you very much for having me here.
Can you tell us more about your research into HMOs and the microbiome across life stages that you are discussing today at the roundtable?
Yes, of course, I'm happy to.
So I'm working at Christian Hansen.
We are a supplier of human milk oligosaccharides.
Human milk oligosaccharides are the 3rd most abundant in human milk.
They are between 150 to 200 structures in human milk, and since recent years they can be manufactured, and that just boosted research.
So naturally human milk olicosaccharides can.
Be applied for infant formula because there are some infants that cannot be breastfed, but also research shows that there are other benefits beyond the microbiomodulation like influencing the immune system, influencing or supporting the gastrointestinal system, and even cognitive development is being influenced by.
And that opens huge possibilities for other health areas and other age groups beyond infants, and we will discuss all the signs on that.
There is a limited number of clinical studies.
There is a huge trend in pre-clinical studies in vitro to better understand the mode of action.
So a lot of science to discuss further.
OK.
And is it HMOs that bring these benefits to health, or is it HMOs impact on the gut that leads to that's a great question.
It's both.
On the one hand you have HMOs, and they are probiotic, so they modulate the growth of beneficial bacteria, for example, bios.
But on the other hand as , HMOs.
Show direct effects independent of the microbiome.
They can directly bind to different immune cells supporting the maturation.
They can directly bind to intestinal cells supporting the resilience and development of the gut.
And even some data show that HMOs are being absorbed and can reach the blood systemic circulation, and there could be also some direct interaction with the cognitive development.
OK, interesting.
And can you further elaborate on recent studies on HMOs for gut health and what important findings that were discovered in your or in other research?
Yes, of course.
So in general, HMO is still in its infancy shoes.
Around about 30 clinical trials have been performed so far since the year 2015.
And these clinical studies were performed in infants, some were performed in children, but even also in adults, and they consistently show the safety and the tolerability of HMOs.
So that has been set now.
Now we're coming into a new generation of studies that is really looking into what health benefits can be reproduced by supplementing HMOs that are manufactured.
We, for example, at Christian Hansen, we performed a study in infants where we added 5 HMO structures to infant formula and where we could show that it modulates the stooling pattern, so you have a shift of the stooling pattern towards breastfed infants, which is always the gold standard.
And here at the conference we're presenting some new data on the microbiomodulation where you can also see you have a boost in beefeob bacteria.
You change the microbiome composition also into the direction of breastfed infants.
Which is associated with other health outcomes.
And then also in general, we have a lot of research collaborations with other academia groups who are going for pre-clinical systems or in vitro systems where we try to understand the mode of action because there's still a lot of uncovered, for example, how do HMOs bind to immune cells.
OK, and what is a common misconception on gut health that the public has?
Oh, there, there are some, so the microbiome research is a main topic since the last 10 to 20 years, and we are now at the stage that we actually know how much we don't know, for example, to define.
A healthy microbiome, a misunderstanding can be that there is not one that there's not a single healthy microbiome, but it can differ between person, between age, between lifestyle, but also between physical activity.
Also, there is no black and white in the microbiome bacteria.
There are some bacteria like bifidos which are seen as generally beneficial.
But there are also other bacteria which are, or commensal bacteria which sometimes, fall off the record, because they maybe don't have a direct beneficial effect, but they are also not, harmful or don't have any health concerns.
And then finally also, If you look at the microbiome research, it's clearly focusing on the bacteria research, and this is the most researched part of the microbiome.
However, there are also viruses, there are fungi, and there are other microbes in the microbiome which outnumber.
The bacteria inside.
So there's really so much more which we need to look into.
Yeah, and to go back to that, you said that for the last 1020 years, interest in the gut microbiome has increased.
What actually started this interest or like what is what is driving it now as?
Huge advantages in the measurement technologies and also huge advantages in the production capabilities of those.
So it's of course a very difficult methodology to get samples from your gut.
So you need to analyze fecal samples.
You need them to analyze the DNA samples for the DNA, for example, to identify which bacteria is which.
And there we had huge huge breakthroughs in the biotechnological processes.
So that on the one hand was just also to research that area and that enabled, OK, we see there is a health benefit, we see there is an interaction between the microbiome and certain health outcomes, not only for digestion, but also for other parts like the immune system.
And that opened a new possibility to modulate all of these health areas.
And what lies ahead in the future for HMOs and for Christian Hansen, but also for the industry as a whole?
Are you spotting any certain specific trends or the journey of HMOs is just about to start.
On the one hand, HMOs will be combined with probiotics in the future, so that is an old scientific concept symbio.
So HMOs are prebiotic.
If you combine them with probiotics, you can have very effective and potential tools to modulate the microbiome and other systems beyond.
Also, HMOs, depending on the research also substantiates the potential, are for sure a candidate for indications in adult populations or for any supplementation effects for special health indications.
OK, thank you very much.
