[BIC-announce] Seminar in Biomedical Engineering - Wednesday Oct 23rd - 1 pm - Room 333

[Christophe Grova]

Dear all,

We will have our next Biomedical Engineering seminar this coming wednesday

Wednesday - October 23rd,  at 1 pm

Location: Room  333 Lyman Duff Building (Biomedical Engineering Dpt, 3775
University Street).
 
Speaker: Catherine Tomaro-Duchesneau, Ph.D. candidate under the supervision
of Dr. Prakash, Biomedical Engineering Dpt, McGill University

Title: Health Benefits of Ferulic Acid-Producing Probiotic Bacteria

Abstract: 
            Ferulic acid (FA) is a phenolic acid abundantly bound to foods
consumed by humans that possesses a number of health beneficial properties.
FA is a potent antioxidant able to neutralize free radicals, such as
Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) implicated in DNA damage, cancer, accelerated
cell aging, obesity and Type II Diabetes Mellitus. FA has been shown to
regulate blood glucose levels by modulating insulin secretion and pancreatic
β-cell survival and by reducing inflammatory markers. In addition, FA
possesses significant antimicrobial activity. Although these properties
suggest FA as an ideal therapeutic for the management of a number of health
disorders, orally-delivered FA is quickly absorbed in the upper digestive
tract and rapidly excreted, greatly reducing its residence time and
bioavailability. Interestingly, a number of gastrointestinal tract (GIT)
bacterial strains have intrinsic feruloyl esterase (FAE) enzymatic activity
that allows for the hydrolysis and release of free FA from its bound state.
Some of these FAE active organisms include probiotic bacteria, “live
microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health
benefit on the host.” Probiotic bacteria have gained interest for the
treatment of a number of disorders, including colon cancer, oral diseases,
non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, metabolic syndrome and inflammatory bowel
disease. Probiotic bacteria have been investigated for their ability to
alter the gut microbiota, the microorganisms living in the GIT, as recent
work demonstrates that the gut microbiota is a crucial determinant of health
and disease.

The delivery of a FAE probiotic to the GIT provides a natural and
synergistic therapeutic approach, by increasing GIT (and systemic) FA
concentrations, as well as by beneficially influencing the composition of
the gut microbiota; both through FA antimicrobial activity and probiotic
modulation. This synergistic formulation should prove useful as a
therapeutic for a number of health disorders. Keeping this in mind, the
presentation will provide a brief overview of the gut microbiota and its
role in health and disease, with a focus on the use of probiotic
therapeutics and microencapsulation. A discussion will then ensue on the
properties of FA and microbial FAE. Methods, both qualitative and
quantitative, to select FAE active probiotic bacteria and research results
characterizing these FA-producing strains and their associated beneficial
properties will be described. Finally, recent work using FAE probiotic
bacteria for a number of health disorders will be highlighted, focusing on
in vivo investigations targeting non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and
metabolic syndrome.


A list of upcoming seminars can be found at :
http://www.mcgill.ca/bme/news/seminars

See you there 

 
Christophe Grova 

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Christophe Grova, PhD

Assistant Professor

Biomedical Engineering Dpt

Neurology and Neurosurgery Dpt

 

Multimodal Functional Imaging Lab (Multi FunkIm)

Montreal Neurological Institute

Centre de Recherches en Mathématiques

 

Biomedical Engineering Department - Room 304

McGill University

3775 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada,

H3A 2B4 

email : christophe.grova at mcgill.ca <mailto:christophe.grova at mcgill.ca>

tel : (514) 398 2516

fax : (514) 398 7461

 

Web:

http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/ResearchLabsMFIL/PeopleChristophe

http://www.bmed.mcgill.ca/

MultiFunkIm Lab:

http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/ResearchLabsMFIL/HomePage

 

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