The PRIMA project has supported the work published in three articles.
Towards nutrition with precision: unlocking biomarkers as dietary assessment tools
Cuparencu et al. 2024
Precision nutrition requires precise tools to monitor dietary habits. Yet current dietary assessment instruments are subjective, limiting our understanding of the causal relationships between diet and health. Biomarkers of food intake (BFIs) hold promise to increase the objectivity and accuracy of dietary assessment, enabling adjustment for compliance and misreporting. Here, we update current concepts and provide a comprehensive overview of BFIs measured in urine and blood.
Dietary fibre directs microbial tryptophan metabolism via metabolic interactions in the gut microbiota
Sinha et al. 2024
Tryptophan is catabolized by gut microorganisms resulting in a wide range of metabolites implicated in both beneficial and adverse host effects. How gut microbial tryptophan metabolism is directed towards indole, associated with chronic kidney disease, or towards protective indolelactic acid (ILA) and indolepropionic acid (IPA) is unclear. Here we used in vitro culturing and animal experiments to assess gut microbial competition for tryptophan and the resulting metabolites in a controlled three-species defined community and in complex undefined human faecal communities.
D-Amino acids from foods and gut microbiota and their effects in health and disease
Roskjær et al. 2024
he D-enantiomers of L-amino acids are non-proteinogenic but widely present in foods. This is due to spontaneous racemization or processing, such as heating or alkali treatment, leading to substantial dietary exposure. Additional exposure to D-amino acids (D-AAs) comes from the human microbiota; D-AAs are present in bacterial surface proteoglycans, essential for bacterial competition and growth.
Links to the article are available from the PRIMA Publications web page.