Nutrition Can Fight Intestinal Inflammation, Finds NIZO Research

While the work focused on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the results are applicable to low-grade inflammation regularly occurring in healthy people and hence relevant for developing diet foods.

3/15/2011 --- Changing intestinal inflammation with dietary calcium is possible. This is one of the results of research carried out by Marloes Schepens at NIZO food research within the Nutrition and Health Research Program of the TI Food and Nutrition. While the work focused on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the results are applicable to low-grade inflammation regularly occurring in healthy people and hence relevant for developing diet foods.

IBD affects millions of people all over the world. However, knowledge on the effects of diet on modulation of IBD is still limited. The thesis entitled “Nutritional modulation of intestinal inflammation” aimed at showing the potential of dietary components to reduce intestinal inflammation. The preclinical dietary interventions, with special emphasis on calcium and antioxidants, were further designed to gain insight in the mechanisms involved in nutrient-dependent modulation of gut barrier function and gut mucosal inflammatory processes.

Results in this thesis are supportive for the substantiation of a gut health claim on calcium. According to Schepens this can aid product innovations of calcium-rich or –enriched functional foods.

The scientific knowledge generated with these experiments contributes to further understanding of the processes involved in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Schepens:“ Many aspects are also relevant to low-grade inflammation regularly occurring in healthy consumers and may therefore be of interest for the food industry.” The preclinical tools and gut health biomarkers developed and/or tested can also be used for proof-of-concept studies with other high-potential dietary ingredients.

The work described in this thesis was performed under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Robert-Jan Brummer (promoter) of Maastricht University  and Dr. Ingeborg Bovee-Oudenhoven (co-promotor) of NIZO food research. Marloes Schepens will defend her thesis on March 18th.