Page 8 - Updated Spectrum-volume-14-issue-6

8 2021 | Spectrum | Volume 14 Number 6
8 2020 | Spectrum | Volume 14 Number 6
Department of Biotechnology Dr. Hachimura elucidated that oral administration
& Microbiology of Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) could result in the
enhancement of immune response with direct effect
on the intestinal immune system. Studies have shown
The program witnessed presentations by seven that IgG and IgA responses are enhanced by lactic acid
International speakers and three young investigators. bacteria which are important in preventing pathogen
The panel discussion was moderated by Prof. Anura invasion. It has also been postulated that LAB may
Kurpad. Panel members included Prof. N.K. Ganguly, act on dendritic cells to produce IL-6 which enhance
Dr. B. Sesikeran, Prof. B.S. Ramakrishna, Prof. Anil IgA production. They may induce T follicular helper
Kumar Srivastava and Prof. J.B. Prajapati. There was (Tfh) cells and activate host defence through NK cells.
a brief presentation by Ms. Inoshi Sharma from Food
Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Dr. Amulya K Panda, Director, National The third presentation in the session was given
“Eat Right for a better future”. This was followed by Institute of Immunology, New Delhi by Dr. Stephanie Jeansen, Science activation Senior
the vote of thanks. The first presentation of the session was made Manager, Danone Nutricia Research France. She

Inaugural session by Dr. Kenji Oishi, Associate Chief Researcher, presented a systematic review and meta-analysis that
had been conducted specifically with a probiotic dairy
Microbiological Research Department, Yakult Central
The inaugural session started with the welcome institute, Tokyo on “Dynamics of probiotic strains drink containing Lacticaseibacillus paracasei CNCM
address by Prof. N.K Ganguly (President, Gut in human small intestinal tract “. His presentation -1518 and yoghurt strains Lactobacillus bulgaricus
Microbiota and Probiotic Science Foundation (India) focussed on analysing the small intestinal fluids and Streptococcus thermophilus. Compared to the
and the opening remarks by Prof. V. Samuel Raj after ingestion of a fermented milk drink containing control, the consumption of the probiotic drink
(Director and Dean Academics, SRM University, a probiotic. His findings, following analysis of the resulted in reduction in the odds of experiencing
Sonepat, Haryana). bacterial composition of the terminal ileum, showed Common Infectious Diseases (CID’s), a significant
that the ingested probiotic could survive in the reduction in the mean CID’s/ subject and a trend
terminal ileum for several hours, suggesting their towards reduced risk in cumulative CID’s, suggesting
role in stimulating the host cells in the small intestine. that regular consumption of the probiotic drink may
reduce CID’s in the general population.
Prof. Bruno Pot, Guest Professor, Vrije University
Brussel, Belgium, Europe showed that probiotic
benefits are strain specific and a single strain may
act in multiple ways to exert its benefit. He also
highlighted how single bacteria can interact with
the intestinal immune system to increase resistance
to viral infections.

Prof. Jeffrey Gordon, Director for the centre for
Prof. NK Ganguly (President, Gut Microbiota and Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington
Probiotic Science Foundation (India) University School of Medicine, St Louis, USA
proposed the hypothesis that perturbations in the
normal development of the gut microbiota are related
to childhood undernutrition including stunting,
neurodevelopmental abnormalities, metabolic and Dr. Satoshi Hachimura, Associate Professor,
immune dysfunction. His journey from preclinical Research Centre for Food Safety, Japan
proof of concept studies to clinical proof of concept Young Investigator Awards
emphasize both challenges and opportunities for
developing microbiota directed therapeutics. The first prize for the Young Investigator Award
Scientific Session 2 was given to Mr. Subhrajit Bhar (TCS Research, Tata
Consultancy Services Ltd, Pune).
The second scientific session was chaired by Prof.
G. Balakrish Nair, Honorary Distinguished Professor, The title of the talk was “Sensory protein signatures
Microbiome laboratory, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for in gut microbiome as biomarkers for early detection of
Biotechnology, Kerala, India and co - chaired by asymptomatic diseases”. His presentation highlighted
Prof. Saurabh Dutta, Professor New born unit, Post a database of bacterial sensory proteins (SP’s) which
Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, were generated and subsequently used for analysing
metagenomic data from previously published case-
Prof. Shiv Pillai (Professor, Medicine and Health Chandigarh India. control studies on Colorectal cancer (healthy, adenoma,
Sciences and Technology, Harvard Medical School The first talk was given by Dr. Tahmeed Ahmed, carcinoma samples), and diabetes (healthy, pre-diabetes,
Boston, USA) Director, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease diabetes samples). The results of the study suggested
The inaugural address was given by Prof. Shiv and Research, Bangladesh, that SP-based techniques could aid in early detection/
Pillai (Professor, Medicine and Health Sciences and Dr, Ahmed highlighted that a condition of Environmental risk-assessment, thus enabling timely intervention.
Technology, Harvard Medical School Boston, USA). Enteric Dysfunction (EED) caused by repeated It was also expected that the SP-signatures were
Prof. Pillai highlighted the limited durability of exposure of a child to pathogens is responsible for universal and not confounded by geography/diet/
humoral response in in COVID- 19 disease. He stated 40% of childhood stunting. This also results in chronic ethnicity-associated taxonomic variations in the gut-
that an examination of post - partem thoracic lymph inflammation, malabsorption, and malnutrition. microbiome. Thus SP-signatures in gut-microbiome
nodes and spleens in acute SARS COV- 2 infection, samples may be used for non-invasive risk-assessment
showed an absence of germinal centres and loss of The Bangladesh Environmental Enteric Dysfunction and as companion diagnostics.
transitional and follicular B cells in severe disease. study (BEEDS) was conducted to understand the
It was demonstrated that majority of CD8+ T cells pathogenesis of EED, discover simple and robust The second prize was awarded to Dr. Mangesh
were exhausted and CD4+ T cells were the dominant biomarkers, assess the impact of feeding on reversal Vasant Suryavanshi (Yenepoya Research Centre,
T cell subset in the lungs, late in the disease and are of stunting and the role of gut microbiota in EED. A Mangalore)
likely drivers of viral clearance. key result of the study was presence of a core group of His topic was “Skin, Oral and Gut share phylotypes to
14 bacterial taxa in at least 80% of the children with urinary microbiome and its divergence may associated
Scientific Session 1 EED. They also positively corelated with duodenal with types of urinary kidney stones”. The study was
The scientific session one (1) was chaired by Dr. proteins involved in immune inflammatory responses. aimed at understanding the link between Kidney
Amulya K Panda, Director, National Institute of The second talk of the session was given by Dr. stone disease (KSD) and urogenital microbiome
Immunology, New Delhi, India and co - chaired by Satoshi Hachimura, Associate Professor, Research (UMB) in disease progression and management. They
Dr. Amit Awasthi, Associate Professor, Translational Centre for Food Safety, Graduate school of Agricultural performed a cross-sectional study involving total 369
Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Japan. patients with KSD and age-sex matched non-KSD
Faridabad, Haryana. controls. Their results showed that UMB may play