Impact of exclusive enteral nutrition on microbiome signatures and function in pediatric Crohn’s disease (P01)

• Subject Area: Medical Microbiology and Mycology, Hygiene, Molecular Infection Biology ; Gastroenterology ; Immunology
• Term: since 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 395357507

Crohn’s disease (CD) is one of the two main entities of idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In the second funding phase, the tandem will specify the diet-induced changes in the intestinal microbiome for therapeutic efficacy of exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) in pediatric Crohn’s disease. EEN-associated signatures will be characterized using the combined approach of continuous culture, gnotobiotic mice and pig models. In this context, the role of dietary fiber in provoking disease relapse will be evaluated. Longitudinal bacterial- and metabolite-profiling of treatment responsive and refractory patients will be implemented to identify functionally relevant microbiome targets in response to EEN, leading to the development of protective synthetic bacterial consortia. The perspective of this project is to develop a microbiome-based maintenance therapy for pediatric CD patients.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1371: Microbiome Signatures -- Functional Relevance in the Digestive Tract
• Applicant Institution: Technische Universität München (TUM)
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Dirk Haller; Privatdozent Dr. Tobias Schwerd