“The industry is searching for reliable, human-relevant models to unravel the gut–brain axis, and this partnership with the University of Twente finally makes that possible,” Susann Bellmann, head of sales & marketing at Nizo, told NutraIngredients.
The collaboration uses organ-on-chip technology to offer insights into how specific dietary components and ingredients affect brain function.
“Our partnership with the University of Twente allows us to combine advanced gut models with this breakthrough chip technology, giving companies new insights into how ingredients affect cognitive development and aging,” Bellman said, adding that they are excited to bring the technology into real-world customer projects.
The influence of nutrition from birth until older age is widely recognized, with the gut-brain axis a central feature. The microbiota interact with food components and communicate with the brain via neurological and biochemical pathways.
However, Nizo noted gaps in understanding and evidence of the precise mechanisms by which diet affects brain function.
“With these joint innovations, food and pharmaceuticals companies no longer have to rely on educated guesses,” they stated. “Instead, they can base early development decisions on concrete scientific and human-relevant data to develop products that truly support brain health.”
The project was awarded ‘Highly Recommended’ in the Innovation Award category at Food Ingredients Europe in Paris earlier this month.
Mapping the journey
As food moves through the gastrointestinal tract, it undergoes extensive changes, so that by the time nutrients reach the brain, they are often modified by processing conditions, the food matrix or gut microbe composition.
“Understanding these transformations is critical for predicting how dietary components influence brain function.” Nizo stated, noting that the new technology will be able to “map the route of food ingredients all the way from the mouth to the brain.”
Early validation studies have shown that the model can detect brain-related effects from a first set of nutritional ingredients, which the company says confirms the technology’s sensitivity to capture meaningful responses and offers “an early, reliable way to identify promising ingredients before committing to human or animal studies.”
“Being able to map the route of food to the brain represents five years of exceptional teamwork between our scientists and Nizo’s experts,” Kerensa Broersen, full professor at the University of Twente and senior scientist of health and digestion at Nizo, said in a press release.
“Together, we have built a scientifically rigorous, animal-free platform that makes the gut–brain connection measurable and actionable”, she added.
Organ-on-chip technology
Organ-on-chip (OoC) platforms are biomimetic systems that emulate organ structures. Microfluidic chips contain engineered or natural tissues within tiny channels etched into them, functioning as miniature lab devices.
The chips mimic human physiology by controlling interactions between cells and their environment. Researchers have developed a range of OoCs to test drug efficacy and cytotoxicity, assess food safety, engineer tissues and other biomedical applications.
The gut-brain axis on chip replicates the physical and biochemical connections between the gut and the brain. It includes a vagal nerve connection generated from stem cells that replicates vagus nerve-mediated signaling.
The system allows researchers to monitor critical brain processes, including myelination, neurogenesis and synaptic pruning. Using techniques such as mRNA profiling and protein analysis, scientists can provide measurable evidence of how diet affects neural development, cognition and memory.
