Européen ECOBIOTIC project

The Ecobiotic project aims to carry out an exhaustive analysis of the long-term impact on health of pre- and probiotic supplementation in mothers and newborns.

Allergies are a real public health problem, and it is estimated that by 2050, 50% of the world's population will be allergic. These diseases are linked to dysfunctions in our immune system, our epithelial barriers and our microbiota as a result of environmental, genetic and epigenetic factors.  Studies have evaluated microbial diversity and composition in populations with and without food allergy and have shown that the intestinal microbiota is different in individuals with food allergy. The biodiversity hypothesis proposes that the epidemic nature of allergic pathology at population level is caused by a reduction in biodiversity linked to our modern lifestyle. To date, there are no effective preventive strategies to reduce the risk of allergies.

Newborn babies are born virtually sterile and are immediately colonised by bacteria transmitted vertically by their mothers at birth. The type of diet then plays a key role in the development of the intestinal microbiota. Exclusively breastfed infants have a microbiota dominated by Bifidobacterium, while formula-fed infants tend to have a more diverse microbiota. The differentiation of immune system cells, particularly naive T lymphocytes into Th1, Th2, Th17 or Treg cells, is largely dependent on the intestinal flora. By secreting IL-17 and IL-22, Th17 cells help maintain the barrier function of the gastrointestinal tract and contribute to the secretion of IgA into the intestinal lumen and the clearance of pathogens from the mucosal surface.

Probiotics are micro-organisms that are beneficial to our intestinal health when added to our diet. They play an important role in regulating intestinal and systemic immunity. Prebiotics are food ingredients containing indigestible fibres that promote the growth and activity of micro-organisms beneficial to the health of the host. They are found naturally in vegetables, fruit and cereals. Because of their modulating effects on the microbiota, fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and inulin, as part of the fructans, but also galactans such as galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) are the most widely studied prebiotics. Because of their biological effects, food supplements containing pre- and probiotics are interesting candidates for preventing or treating food allergies.

EcoBiotic is based on two interventional clinical studies using prebiotics (PREGRALL) and/or probiotics (INFANTIBIO-II) and on an observational study of food allergy (MAMI) in mother-child dyads during pregnancy and early life. These studies are funded by external sources, and for which dietetic, clinical and biological data are already available or are being developed. The cohorts also include a vast collection of human samples, which will be analysed in our research project.

At the clinical level, we will target the effects on the onset of food allergies.

At the mechanistic level, we will assess the effects on :

1. the functional status of the immune system,
2. the composition of the microbiota in mother's milk,
3. commensal bacteria in our gut linked to IgA in meconium and faeces and
4. specific antibodies to commensal bacteria and allergens in plasma, breast milk and saliva. We will provide a high-throughput chip-based analytical tool for analysing antibody responses to commensal bacteria and allergens, which can be used to diagnose food allergy in children using very small amounts of blood or even saliva (non-invasive).

Our project will identify microbes associated with a reduced risk of food allergy, which could be used in the future as immunoregulatory probiotics.

• Partners involved:
  • Marie BODINIER: BIA Unit, INRAE, France
  • Dirk HALLER: Technical University of Munich (TUM), School of Life Sciences, Germany.
  • Tomer HERTZ: Dept. of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics, University of the Negev (BGU), Israel
  • Maria Carmen COLLADO : Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos, Spain.
  • Martin LARSEN: Centre for Immunology and Infectious Diseases (CIMI), Inserm U1135, France.
• Coordinating entity: Inserm U1135, France (M. Larsen)
• BIA teams involved:
  • Allergy team: Marie Bodinier (Research Director), Carole Brosseau (Post-doctoral fellow)
• Project start-end date: 36 months: 1 April 2022 to 1 April 2025
• Funding : ANR Overall budget / Total grants for BIA :
  • Total budget: 1,227,154 euros
  • BIA budget: 259,280 euros