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**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** FERMENTED FOOD INTAKE IS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVEMENTS IN HUMAN IMMUNE FUNCTION. THESE BENEFITS MAY LIE IN BIOACTIVITY OF MICROBE-DERIVED METABOLITES (I.E. POSTBIOTICS) FOUND IN FERMENTED FOODS. IT IS OUR VISION THAT 1) IDENTIFYING BENEFICIAL POSTBIOTICS AND THEN 2) ADAPTING STRATEGIES TO OPTIMIZE THEIR PRODUCTION IN A FOOD MATRIX WILL HAVE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON IMMUNE HEALTH AND DISEASE PREVENTION. OUR PRELIMINARY DATA INDICATES THAT SELECT FERMENTED FOODS CONTAIN HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF PHENYLLACTIC ACID (PLA), 4-HYDROXYPHENYLLACTIC ACID (4-HPLA), AND INDOLE-3-LACTIC ACID (ILA); BIOCHEMICALLY RELATED METABOLITES DOWNSTREAM OF MICROBIAL AROMATIC AMINO ACID (ARAA) METABOLISM THAT WE HAVE IDENTIFIED AS MEDIATORS OF INNATE IMMUNE CELL (MONOCYTE) INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY. THESE DATA HAVE LED US TO HYPOTHESIZE THAT THERE IS A UNIQUE CLASS OF MICROBIAL PRODUCTS WITHIN FERMENTED FOOD THAT CONFERS ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY. HOWEVER, HOW FERMENTED FOOD POSTBIOTIC PROPERTIES CAN BE OPTIMIZED TO IMPROVE IMMUNE HEALTH OF HUMANS HAS NEVER BEEN TESTED. TO FILL THIS GAP IN KNOWLEDGE, WE WILL: 1) FURTHER INVESTIGATE THE IMMUNE AND METABOLIC TUNING PROPERTIES OF MICROBIAL-ARAA METABOLITES 2) IDENTIFY FOOD MATRIX CONDITIONS THAT OPTIMIZE MICROBIAL ARAA METABOLISM AND 3) DETERMINE IF WHOLE FERMENTED FOOD DIETS OPTIMIZED FOR HIGH MICROBIAL-DERIVED ARAA METABOLITES PROMOTE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY IN HUMANS.

$637,850FY2023National Institute of Food and AgricultureUSDA

University Of Illinois

Investigators

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**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** FERMENTED FOOD INTAKE IS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVEMENTS IN HUMAN IMMUNE FUNCTION. THESE BENEFITS MAY LIE IN BIOACTIVITY OF MICROBE-DERIVED METABOLITES (I.E. POSTBIOTICS) FOUND IN FERMENTED FOODS. IT IS OUR VISION THAT 1) IDENTIFYING BENEFICIAL POSTBIOTICS AND THEN 2) ADAPTING STRATEGIES TO OPTIMIZE THEIR PRODUCTION IN A FOOD MATRIX WILL HAVE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON IMMUNE HEALTH AND DISEASE PREVENTION. OUR PRELIMINARY DATA INDICATES THAT SELECT FERMENTED FOODS CONTAIN HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF PHENYLLACTIC ACID (PLA), 4-HYDROXYPHENYLLACTIC ACID (4-HPLA), AND INDOLE-3-LACTIC ACID (ILA); BIOCHEMICALLY RELATED METABOLITES DOWNSTREAM OF MICROBIAL AROMATIC AMINO ACID (ARAA) METABOLISM THAT WE HAVE IDENTIFIED AS MEDIATORS OF INNATE IMMUNE CELL (MONOCYTE) INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY. THESE DATA HAVE LED US TO HYPOTHESIZE THAT THERE IS A UNIQUE CLASS OF MICROBIAL PRODUCTS WITHIN FERMENTED FOOD THAT CONFERS ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY. HOWEVER, HOW FERMENTED FOOD POSTBIOTIC PROPERTIES CAN BE OPTIMIZED TO IMPROVE IMMUNE HEALTH OF HUMANS HAS NEVER BEEN TESTED. TO FILL THIS GAP IN KNOWLEDGE, WE WILL: 1) FURTHER INVESTIGATE THE IMMUNE AND METABOLIC TUNING PROPERTIES OF MICROBIAL-ARAA METABOLITES 2) IDENTIFY FOOD MATRIX CONDITIONS THAT OPTIMIZE MICROBIAL ARAA METABOLISM AND 3) DETERMINE IF WHOLE FERMENTED FOOD DIETS OPTIMIZED FOR HIGH MICROBIAL-DERIVED ARAA METABOLITES PROMOTE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY IN HUMANS. · GrantIndex