Application of new technologies and methods in nutrition research-the example of phenotypic flexibility.
NutriTech will build on the foundations of traditional human nutrition research using cutting-edge analytical technologies and methods to comprehensively evaluate the diet-health relationship and critically assess their usefulness for the future of nutrition research and human well-being. Technologies include genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, laser scanning cytometry, NMR based lipoprotein profiling and advanced imaging by MRI/MRS.
All methods will be applied in an integrated manner to quantify the effect of diet on «phenotypic flexibility», based on metabolic flexibility (the capacity for the organism to adapt fuel oxidation to fuel availability). However, NutriTech will move beyond the state-of-the-art by applying these integrated methods to assess the underlying and related cell biological and genetic mechanisms and multiple physiological processes of adaptation when homeostasis is challenged. Methods will in the first instance be evaluated within a human intervention study, and the resulting optimal methods will be validated in a number of existing cohorts against established endpoints.
NutriTech will disseminate the harmonised and integrated technologies on a global scale by a large academic network including 6 non-EU partners and by providing an integrated and standardised data storage and evaluation platform. The impact of NutriTech will be multifold and exploitation is crucial as major breakthroughs from our technology and research are expected. This will be achieved by collaboration with a consortium of 8 major food industries and by exploitation of specific technologies by our 6 SME partners. Overall, NutriTech will lay the foundations for successful integration of emerging technologies intro nutrition research.
General objectives
The overall objective of NutriTech is to develop novel standardised methods for global use, using stateof-the-art and beyond state-of-the-art technologies, for studying the effects of diet and life-style on human health. To be able to achieve this, the large pan-European consortium is extended with several non-European partners from different continents, to ensure global acceptance of the methods developed here. Only by achieving worldwide harmonisation of the methodologies used in nutrition research, can
developments in this field be significantly improved as it will allow the direct comparison of results, thus enabling real collaboration and exchange in the worldwide nutrition research community.
NutriTech will work towards this objective by studying the phenotypic flexibility of humans, when challenged with foods and/or food components. This topic was chosen as the most relevant methods and technologies available and under development (see Table 1 above) can be validated within this area of research. Several sub-objectives of NutriTech are therefore to:
1. Evaluate the value of emerging technologies in the quantification of subtle effects of dietary interventions on health;
2. Evaluate the added value of emerging technologies to elucidate mechanisms of action in human studies;
3. Validate the use of emerging technologies for studying human metabolic and physiological adaptive processes in response to a shift from a suboptimal to a healthy diet;
4. Develop the integrated quantification of aspects of phenotypic flexibility as biomarkers of diet-related health improvement;
5. Develop methods integrating established as well as emerging technologies to study nutritional effects on health;
6. Provide guidelines and protocols to harmonise the use of the developed integrated methods;
7. Establish a data infrastructure in a global network of laboratories to disseminate and implement the new methods and technologies developed in nutrition research;
8. Valorise the new integrated technology for the food industry in a renewed effort to demonstrate health benefits of defined dietary interventions.
Role of the andalusian partner
1. Store and share all project data via the nutritional phenotype database.
2. Analyse and evaluate the study results beyond the single methods level
3. Embed NutriTech results within relevant publicly available data
4. Derive practical and integrated methods from the extensive phenotyping technologies for use in cohort studies
5. To apply the «practical phenotype» package» and specific components of the «extensive phenotype» packages to established suitable observational longitudinal and cross-sectional cohorts with available biobanks and data-rich databases including sophisticated bioimaging techniques.
6. To validate the «food intake» biomarkers in established observational (EPIC) and intervention (CORDIOPREV) cohorts with rich and repeated nutritional information
7. To validate the «the «practical phenotype» package» and specific components of the «extensive phenotype» as markers of optimal health (i.e. absence of onset of metabolic diseases) in cohorts of different ages, socioeconomic status and behavioural and dietary habits and test its application to large populations.
8. To validate whether the «practical phenotype» package» can detect beneficial changes induced by dietary/behavioural interventions in large clinical studies and differences in response resulting from genetic variability.
9. Create a sustainable global network to promote, disseminate and harmonise emerging technologies in state-of-the-art nutrition and health research.
10. Disseminate the project’s approach and results to academic, governmental and industry stakeholders, focussing on Europe with additional global.