Maternal Dietary Supplementation with Oligofructose-Enriched Inulin in Gestating/Lactating Rats Preserves Maternal Bone and Improves Bone Microarchitecture in Their Offspring

This study received financial support from Abbott Nutrition, a commercial company, and coauthors PBV, MM, JMLP and RR are employees of Abbott Nutrition. There are two patents related with the data presented (EP 2502507 A1 and EP 2745706 A1).Some of these results were presented in the 7th World Congress of DOHaD (2011) and in the World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Disease (WCO-IOF-ESCEO) (2014).Nutrition during pregnancy and lactation could exert a key role not only on maternal bone, but also could influence the skeletal development of the offspring. This study was performed in rats to assess the relationship between maternal dietary intake of prebiotic oligofructose-enriched inulin and its role in bone turnover during gestation and lactation, as well as its effect on offspring peak bone mass/architecture during early adulthood. Rat dams were fed either with standard rodent diet (CC group), calcium-fortified diet (Ca group), or prebiotic oligofructose-enriched inulin supplemented diet (Pre group), during the second half of gestation and lactation. Bone mineral density (BMD) and content (BMC), as well as micro-structure of dams and offspring at different stages were analysed. Dams in the Pre group had significantly higher trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), trabecular bone volume fraction (BV/TV) and smaller specific bone surface (BS/BV) of the tibia in comparison with CC dams. The Pre group offspring during early adulthood had an increase of the lumbar vertebra BMD when compared with offspring of CC and Ca groups. The Pre group offspring also showed significant increase versus CC in cancellous and cortical structural parameters of the lumbar vertebra 4 such as Tb.Th, cortical BMD and decreased BS/BV. The results indicate that oligofructose-enriched inulin supplementation can be considered as a plausible nutritional option for protecting against maternal bone loss during gestation and lactation preventing bone fragility and for optimizing peak bone mass and architecture of the offspring in order to increase bone strength.This study was funded by Abbott Nutrition R&D, and co-authors PBV, MM, JMLP and RR receive salary from Abbott Nutrition

Prospects for the development of probiotics and prebiotics for oral applications

There has been a paradigm shift towards an ecological and microbial community-based approach to understanding oral diseases. This has significant implications for approaches to therapy and has raised the possibility of developing novel strategies through manipulation of the resident oral microbiota and modulation of host immune responses. The increased popularity of using probiotic bacteria and/or prebiotic supplements to improve gastrointestinal health has prompted interest in the utility of this approach for oral applications. Evidence now suggests that probiotics may function not only by direct inhibition of, or enhanced competition with, pathogenic micro-organisms, but also by more subtle mechanisms including modulation of the mucosal immune system. Similarly, prebiotics could promote the growth of beneficial micro-organisms that comprise part of the resident microbiota. The evidence for the use of pro or prebiotics for the prevention of caries or periodontal diseases is reviewed, and issues that could arise from their use, as well as questions that still need to be answered, are raised. A complete understanding of the broad ecological changes induced in the mouth by probiotics or prebiotics will be essential to assess their long-term consequences for oral health and disease

Acute and recurrent symptomatic urinary tract infections in women

It has become clear in recent years that the human intestinal microbiota plays an important role in maintaining health and thus is an attractive target for clinical interventions. Scientists and clinicians have become increasingly interested in assessing the ability of probiotics and prebiotics to enhance the nutritional status of malnourished children, pregnant women, the elderly, and individuals with non-communicable disease-associated malnutrition. A workshop was held by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), drawing on the knowledge of experts from industry, medicine, and academia, with the objective to assess the status of our understanding of the link between the microbiome and under-nutrition, specifically in relation to probiotic and prebiotic treatments for under-nourished individuals. These discussions led to four recommendations: (1) The categories of malnourished individuals need to be differentiated. To improve treatment outcomes, subjects should first be categorized based on the cause of malnutrition, additional health-concerns, differences in the gut microbiota, and sociological considerations. (2) Define a baseline healthy gut microbiota for each category. Altered nutrient requirement (for example, in pregnancy and old age) and individual variation may change what constitutes a healthy gut microbiota for the individual. (3) Perform studies using model systems to test the effectiveness of potential probiotics and prebiotics against these specific categories. These should illustrate how certain microbiota profiles can be altered, as members of different categories may respond differently to the same treatment. (4) Perform robust well-designed human studies with probiotics and/or prebiotics, with appropriate, defined primary outcomes and sample size. These are critical to show efficacy and understand responder and non-responder outcomes. It is hoped that these recommendations will lead to new approaches that combat malnutrition. © 2014 Landes Bioscience