Personalised Probiotics
The remarkable success of probiotics in recent years has demonstrated that the health effects and benefits — from immunomodulatory effects to improving the gut barrier — are real and far-reaching. However, it has become clear that not everyone responds equally to a one-size-fits-all approach. The one-size-fits-all probiotic is increasingly being questioned. Could personalized probiotics be the solution?
A New Approach
Personalized probiotics are specifically tailored to the individual circumstances of each person in order to achieve the best possible effect. This includes taking into account the current composition of the microbiome as well as genetic predispositions, diet, and lifestyle habits. While general probiotics assume the health benefits of the bacterial strains used apply universally, personalized probiotics take human individuality into account and aim to significantly enhance effectiveness.
The Individual Microbiome
Research into the microbiome over the past ten years has increasingly shown that the composition of bacterial populations is highly individual. Whether or not a bacterial strain can colonize the gut depends on the individual's baseline flora and specific host characteristics. This person-specific colonization resistance means that the existing, established gut flora inhibits the settlement of new microorganisms to varying degrees. Studies have therefore shown that conventional probiotics have different acceptance rates in the gut, leading only to transient, individually varying changes in gut ecology. As a result, generic probiotics are often limited in their universal effectiveness.
New Technologies for Personalized Probiotics
Detailed microbiome analysis paves the way for precision medicine-based probiotic strategies. It is not enough to analyze the microbiome using modern sequencing techniques alone, as these do not provide information about the quantity of specific bacterial species or the associations among various bacterial populations. These technologies must be combined to provide the most accurate overview of the individual gut flora. vermicon has developed an approach that enables comprehensive analysis. The sequencing data obtained are combined with FISH data, allowing not only identification of bacterial diversity but also determination of actual abundance. Additionally, specific bacterial species in the gut can be visualized.
Support for the Development of Personalized Probiotics
By combining various powerful technologies, it is possible to determine not only which bacterial species are missing in a person’s gut but also which bacteria have the potential to establish themselves in the individual microbiome. Furthermore, the success of a tailored personalized probiotic can be verified.
A New Approach to Personalized Probiotics
vermicon has developed a new approach specifically addressing the challenges of personalized probiotics. This allows the microbiome to be analyzed on multiple levels so that the data can be used by probiotic manufacturers for the development of personalized probiotics.
This unique approach will be presented in an upcoming webinar in the coming months.
Conclusion
Personalized probiotics are the logical evolution of generic probiotics and the answer to colonization resistance as described in many studies. This can further increase the effectiveness of probiotics. However, it also raises new regulatory questions and challenges regarding the economic viability of these next-generation probiotics.
New Webinar
We will be taking an in-depth look at the hot topic of “personalized probiotics” in an upcoming webinar. Our unique approach to precise microbiome analysis for developing personalized probiotics will be presented — along with the regulatory challenges associated with the development of these next-generation probiotics. We will also discuss considerations regarding economic feasibility and practical implementation.
You can join the waiting list to be notified as soon as the webinar date is announced.
