Effects of Nutritional Fat on the Growth of Intestinal E. Coli

• Status: Unknown status
• Trial end date: 2019-09-24
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

Recent experiments in the lab of Prof. WD Hardt revealed, that in mice, 24 h exposure to a high-fat diet results in a breakdown of colonization resistance against Salmonella typhimurium. Mechanistic experiments identified bile acids as the mediator for reduced colonization resistance. Exposure to a high fat diet leads to increased bile acid secretion which in turn modify the intestinal microbiota.

It is now the aim to verify the results of this study in human healthy volunteers. The nutritional habits of all participants will carefully be evaluated. In the intervention phase, participants will be exposed to either high-fat or low-fat diet and a controlled dose of the non-pathogenic bacteria E. coli Nissle. E. coli Nissle is the active compound for "Mutaflor®" and other probiotics.

It is planned to enumerate E. coli Nissle counts in the stool after Mutaflor ingestion and to quantify other changes of the human microbiota. The hypothesis is that a high-fat diet leads to increased bile acid secretion results in favorable growth conditions for E. coli Nissle, resulting in high bacterial counts in the stool.

• Phase: N/A
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Details

• Lead Sponsor: University of Zurich

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Individuals free of abdominal complaints or symptoms

• Written informed consent

• Age 18 - 85 years

• Working at ETH Zurich or University of Zurich and trained and experienced in handling -80°C freezers at biosafety level 2.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Previous history of gastrointestinal disease or surgery (excludes appendectomy, hernia repair and surgery for anorectal disorders)

• Known diabetes mellitus, scleroderma, neurological impairment or other major diseases requiring ongoing management

• Immunesuppression

• Subjects with antibiotic therapy, proton pump inhibitors or laxatives within the last four weeks

• Pregnancy beyond week 12. "Mutaflor" intake is safe during pregnancy; however, special regulations are required to gain access to the -80°C freezers. No pregnancy test will be performed.