[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 today

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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