The popularity of the products enriched with probiotics grows around the world. And it is not casual as pro-biotic cultures promote maintenance of an organism in a healthy state, improve digestion, strengthen immunity.
The recent years a huge amount of pro-biotic food and drinks was brought to the market. And if till 2009 Europe was the best world market of pro-biotic yoghurt sale and pro-biotic additives, then now the EU takes the third place on sales, conceding to China and the USA.
Linux, Bifiform, Enterol, Atsipol, Hilak – this probiotic – medications of the European production we meet on shelves of the Pridnestrovian pharmacies. They are very expensive and also not always effective, western companies do not consider local features of consumers in any way. In other words, at the different people, the balance of these useful bacteria differs, and it is necessary to provide here group («national») also even the individualized approach, but not a product of mass consumption.
To reveal the «genetic» probiotics of group (national) orientation and to develop products of functional food and dietary supplements to food – this was the purpose of employees of the Scientific Investigation laboratory (SIL) «Physiology of stress and adaptation» of the Shevchenko Pridnestrovian State University headed by the Dr.Sci.Biol., professor Vladimir Sheptitsky more than 10 years ago.
The project of the Pridnestrovian scientists under the name «Development of Biological Products for the Food Industry, Medicine, Veterinary Science and Livestock Production on the basis of Evolutionarily Adapted Probiotics of Northern Black Sea Coast» developed by the manager of the SIL Vladimir Sheptitsky and the senior research associate SIL Yury Borshchev attracted interest of the Russian colleagues, and in 2016 received the status of the participant of the project of the Skolkovo center.
Now work on the innovative ideas goes in cooperation with Institute of Experimental Medicine of Federal State Budgetary Institution National Almazov Medical Research Center of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation which acts as the organization collaborator from the Russian Federation.
Our News Agency discussed how the project appeared, what benefits and scientific development can bring its essence with the Dr.Sci.Biol., professor Vladimir Sheptitsky.
About pro- and prebiotics
Whether you know that 2-3 kg of weight of the adult healthy person is made by inhabitants of his intestines – microorganisms (representatives about 500 types)? A total number of microorganisms in intestines of the person is about 50 trillion microorganisms that are about 1.3 times more, than the total quantity of cells in an organism. It is difficult not to reckon with such weight. Our «rich inner world» is necessary to be feed and sometimes treated!
It is known that normal intestinal microflora plays enormous role information and maintenance of adaptive opportunities of an organism, health and in life expectancy. In the top-10 world, scientific achievements of 2013 the «Identification of the Defining Influence of an Intestinal Microbiota on Almost All Processes of an Organism, including Brain Activity, and a Role of Its Violations in Development of Various Diseases» point is included.
In the conditions of improper feeding, stresses, inactive conduct of life inhabitants of our intestines quite often need artificial support. For this purpose also pre- and probiotics are thought up.
Probiotics are existing or specially removed cultures of the live bacteria which positively influenced intestinal microflora. Taking the medicines and dietary supplements from this group, we seek to occupy intestines with «the necessary lodgers».
Prebiotics do not contain microorganisms but create good conditions for their life. As a rule, these medicines consist of oligosaccharides, enzymes, acids and other substances which are used in food by intestinal microflora or have a stimulating impact on its growth and development.
The strain is genetically uniform posterity of microorganisms (bacteria, mushrooms, the elementary) or cells of the culture of eukaryotes, having certain signs.
Pridnestrovian know-how
Change of the environment, food allowance, social stress cause change of structure of intestinal microbiota, making a direct impact on human health, the activity of systems of an organism, especially digestive, immune, cardiovascular, on higher nervous activity. Here a probiotic – such alternative at a number of diseases just also has to come to the rescue of antibiotics which does not cause collateral reactions. At the same time it is scientifically proved: if medicines are made of local strains of bacteria, then they are most effective, Vladimir Sheptitsky says.
«The concept «genetic» pro- and prebiotic and symbiotic is new in terms of scientific knowledge in the field of a tropological and a nutritsiology. A «genetic» probiotics of group (national) orientation has to be intermediate between the inefficient probiotics of mass consumption and an autoprobiotics which are an ideal of the personified medicine», - professor noted.
The Pridnestrovian scientists plan to receive the probiotics which are evolutionarily adapted to our territory from long-livers. Namely from microbiocenoses of families of the long-livers who kept health to old age in a complex with the prebiotics which evolutionarily underwent natural selection in this microecological system.
«In the territory of Pridnestrovie, about 680 long-livers live now. These are people age over 90 years. From them, about 19% are the people confined to the bed. And here those that continue to lead active lifestyle practically did not hurt, live in the rural zone, - from bakteriotsenoz of their families, animal, from dairy products which they eat, we also plan to allocate perspective strains of probiotic bacteria which constantly evolve in the circle of long-livers», - Vladimir Sheptitsky explained.
Main objective of the project is receiving the new patented strains of probiotic microorganisms and their associations and development on their basis with use of prebiotics of plant origin of a line of products of functional food, generally sour-milk, for correction and prevention of certain violations with emphasis on digestive and immune systems and also in the long term about – pre-, meta – and symbiotic medicines for medicine, veterinary science and livestock production.
Tens of researches conducted in recent years in the territory of Pridnestrovie confirmed the efficiency of local strains in comparison with import analogues that it is reflected by employees SIL in patents for inventions, publications. But development on the basis of researches of probiotic medicines is difficult, labor-intensive process including, in particular, carrying out researches of microorganisms by means of modern molecular and genetic, immunological, biochemical and bacteriological methods for the purpose of their standardization, certification, assessment of their compliance to standards of quality and safety of application, carrying out preclinical researches. Realization of these tasks requires the modern research equipment and powerful experimental base. In it, developers of the project also saw the help which the Russian colleagues could render.
Status of the participant of the Skolkovo project
In 2015 representatives of the Skolkovo centre became interested in innovative development. Before last strict selection, the project could get financial, technological and legal support from outside Skolkovo and also to attract private investments and venture funds for the embodiment of the idea in life, it had to pass the international examination.
«When we started to advance our project, it turned out really difficult. There was more than the persons interested in its realization, we expanded the geography of the research and included besides Pridnestrovie the territory of the Crimea and Krasnodar Krai. From each region planned to receive three strains of perspective probiotic bacteria at the first stage. After that from the second attempt, we passed a stage of the international examination. Experts unanimously voted for the project, recognized it to be evidence-based, competitive, but it was only the beginning of a way», - Vladimir Sheptitsky noted.
The Pridnestrovian project managed to receive the status of the Skolkovo project not at once: it was necessary not only to pass repeatedly the examination of the Grant memorandum, road map and a package of accompanying documents on the commissions of the Cluster of biological and biomedical technologies and financial justification but also to register the legal entity in the territory of the Russian Innovative Center. As soon as all these stages were completed and the created legal entity Research centre «Probiokod the joint venture» received the status of the Participant of the project of Creation and Ensuring Functioning of the Innovative Center «Skolkovo», even allocated to authors of the project the small study in the territory of «the Russian Silicon Valley». Researches were planned to be conducted both in Pridnestrovie and in scientific centres of St. Petersburg and Moscow.
After a while, the project was allowed to the application for receiving a mini-grant for the first year of researches. At the first stage the grant is allocated for a year, then in case of success – for three and as a result – for seven years. Respectively, the researches support summer, productions and advances of a product are different. However on one of the final presentations of the project the new management of the Cluster of Biological and Biomedical Technologies, having highly appreciated a scientific component, scientific and technical novelty and prospects of the innovative project, decided that the sum of an annual grant is not enough for carrying out researches and that co-investors are necessary. Now the innovative centre looks for these co-investors – the companies, the enterprises.
«In the current year the presentation of our project before representatives of the Danone company was held, however, it is impossible to forget that we are potential competitors of such companies. In parallel we developed offers on the innovative project «Development of Biological Products for the Food Industry, Medicine and Livestock Production on the basis of Evolutionarily Adapted PMR Probiotics» within the formation of the small innovative enterprises», - the director of the project of science Vladimir Sheptitsky explained.
And while receiving the new patented strains of local probiotic microorganisms is depending on co-investors, another part of the project of the Pridnestrovian scientists found the support of the Russian scientific fund.
«Since the beginning of 2018 the employee of our laboratory who is also an employee of the Russian scientific organization Yury Borshchev as a part of group of the Russian scientists received from the Russian scientific fund a grant on implementation of the project devoted to studying of influence of probiotic strains of microorganisms on activity of a myocardium. Thanks to its certain opportunities and for further promotion of our project is opened. I myself cannot participate in a competition on a grant of the Russian scientific fund because a necessary condition is to be an employee of the scientific organization of the Russian Federation. It would be desirable that our scientists would have the same rights, as well as our Russian colleagues, and could come to the Russian giants. Thanks to it we could raise scientific, experimental base of our higher education institution, increase the efficiency of the educational process», - Vladimir Sheptitsky paid attention.
The Pridnestrovian scientific community is waiting for help with this question.
