Biosearch Life project aims to cut mothers' antibiotic use and boost babies' microbiota colonisation
Through the GESTA HEALTH project, researchers from the natural ingredients firm will look to discover innovative solutions to prevent and treat health problems during the pre-conception stage, pregnancy and lactation by modulating the microbiota.
These conditions of microbial imbalance, which particularly affect women during pregnancy and lactation, can have repercussions on the mother's health and the baby's health.
Various clinical studies will be carried out in an aim to help to better understand the interaction between bacterial populations and their interaction with the human organism.
Some of the studies are aimed at finding natural and effective treatments based on probiotics, which would help reduce the use of antibiotics during the sensitive periods of pregnancy and lactation.
This strategy would be in line with the recommendations of the WHO and other official bodies to reduce the consumption of antibiotics, and to reduce the risk of generating multi-resistance in pathogens, considered a major threat to global health.
Antibiotic treatments cause imbalances in the microbiota of the mother and baby, which can negatively affect the colonisation process of the child.
The baby's colonisation with a balanced microbiota is key to the baby’s development, and will have an impact throughout their life.
An essential factor in the baby's colonisation process is the mother's own microbiota, which acts as an active source of bacteria for the baby.
This project will deal with the relationship between the mother's microbiota and the child's colonisation process in order to study the factors involved, and to design intervention strategies in the mother to ensure the baby's correct colonisation.
The three-year project, with a total investment of € 2.3 million, is supported by the Centre for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) through the granting of partially reimbursable aid, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. (ERDF) through the Multi-regional Operational Programme of Spain 2014-2020 (IDI-20181226).
The project include collaboration of major research groups from different universities in Spain, such as the Complutense University of Madrid, the University of Granada and Barcelona, as well as health services and hospitals.
After the completion of the CARMENTA project: "New strategies for technological innovation aimed at the health and well-being of children and women" (approved in the 2015 announcement of the ERDF Interconnect programme), GESTA HEALTH is a new sign of Biosearch Life's commitment to children and women's health.
Probiotic supplements for mothers
Biosearch signed a licence agreement with Nestlé last year for the use of its Lactobacillus fermentum LC40 strain in food supplements aimed at breastfeeding women.
The Biosearch Life's Hereditum strain (L. fermentum LC40) is sold as a food supplement aimed at breastfeeding women for the purpose of maintaining healthy lactation.
The biotech firm said the strain was selected from among hundreds of strains found in breast milk, and has been shown in clinical studies to reduce painful inflammation in the breasts known as mastitis – which is a major cause of mothers stopping breastfeeding early.
Mastitis is usually treated with antibiotics, but normally results in mothers deciding to stop breastfeeding, the press release noted. However, research has suggested that the L. fermentum LC40 strain can not only eliminate painful symptoms associated with mastitis but also allow the continue breastfeeding.
