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ISAPP Activities and Publications
Meetings and Symposia
Publications Heimbach report on 2004 EFSA meeting ISAPP explores standards for probiotics 2005 Publicity ISAPP Meetings: ISAPP sponsors key probiotic meetings and symposia in 2006 and 2007
To further ISAPP's objectives of disseminating science-based information in the areas of probiotics and prebiotics, funding to support the following meetings has been provided by ISAPP: Along with the Drug Information Association, ISAPP co-sponsored a meeting convened October 16-17, 2006 in Adelphi , MD titled "Developing Probiotics as Foods and Drugs - Scientific and Regulatory Challenges". The Conference Proceedings will be published as a Supplement in Clinical Infectious Diseases. The aim of this conference was to provide an overview of the historical and current human use of probiotics, what is known regarding the properties of the organisms, mechanisms of action, and the translation of basic science advances into clinical studies and potentially new probiotic applications. The current level of scientific evidence supporting the use of probiotics in the management of disease conditions or in maintaining well-being was discussed. The conference addressed the US regulatory status of probiotics, both as "foods" — including dietary supplements, and as "drugs." The discussion included a review of the global marketplace for probiotics, as well as the current US regulatory milieu and its impact on scientific research and evaluation of safety and biologic activity. Research and policy recommendations which would advance the field of probiotics were made by experts present at the meeting. A symposium titled "Probiotics: Mechanisms of Action, Current Research and Application for Pediatric Disease" at the 2007 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting (Toronto May 5-8, 2007) will be co-sponsored by ISAPP and the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition; Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society; and the Pediatric Academic Societies. Dr. Michael Cabana , University of California San Francisco , will chair the session, featuring the following speakers and topics:
Symposium abstract: Probiotics are defined as "live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host." These microorganisms are normally found in the human intestine and help stabilize and balance intestinal microflora. Although the term 'probiotic' was not used until the 1960s, the healthy effects of probiotic bacteria have been noted for over a century. Probiotics have been used for the prevention of infectious diarrhea and antibiotic-associated diarrhea. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the use of probiotics for the treatment inflammatory bowel disease, necrotizing enterocolitis and extra-intestinal disorders including atopic dermatitis and recurrent urinary tract infections. As more applications of probiotic therapy are considered for pediatric practice, it is important to understand the underlying mechanisms, limitations and safety issues with this increasingly popular therapy. This symposium will summarize current knowledge regarding the mechanism of the beneficial effects of probiotics, current uses of different strains of probiotics in children and future trends and areas of research for disease prevention and treatment. ISAPP will sponsor a symposium to be held at the 107th General Meeting of the American Society of Microbiology in Toronto in 2007. Board member, Todd Klaenhammer, and former Board member, David Mills, gained approval to convene a session titled “Genomics of probiotic lactic acid bacteria”. Speakers and topics to be covered are:
Symposium abstract: The lactic acid bacteria are a group of Gram positive bacteria that occupy a variety of specialized habitats, but possess similar morphological, metabolic and physiological characteristics. They play an essential role in food and beverage fermentations, and selected groups are also known for their probiotic properties. This symposium will focus on the recent appearance of completed genomes across the LAB and, selected bifidobacteria. The result of a large comparative genomic analysis will be featured that describes their evolutionary path toward specialized ecological niches. This will be followed by individual reports on selected genomes of probiotic species that are providing important insights into the physiological, metabolic, and probiotic capabilities of these beneficial microorganisms. ISAPP will sponsor the 2nd International Workshop on Gut Microbiota in Health and Disease: Potential Role of Probiotics, to be held in Amsterdam , The Netherlands, April 26 – 28, 2007. This meeting will bring international experts together to highlight changes in views on beneficial gut microbiota-host crosstalk, probiotics and their role in prevention and alleviation of gastrointestinal, atopic, auto-immune, and functional bowel diseases. ISAPP is collaborating with Dr. Stanislav Sitkin in developing a program on “Probiotics, Prebiotics, Synbiotics and Functional Foods: Scientific and Clinical Aspects” to be held in St. Petersburg , Russia May 15–16, 2007. ISAPP Sponsors the Second International Symposium on Lactic Acid Bacteria in Tucuman , Argentina ISAPP supported Dr. Jim Versalovic to travel to and speak at this important conference in South America . This conference was held in San Miguel de Tucuman , Argentina on October 11-13, 2006 and was composed of plenary and keynote lectures in addition to poster sessions. This international meeting also included the first Argentinean LAB Net meeting. The conference included participants from Argentina and several neighboring countries including Brazil , Chile , Uruguay ,and Peru . Speakers traveled from the USA and Europe to provide cutting edge perspectives on lactic acid bacteria, probiotics, and prebiotics. The conference immediately followed the celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of CERELA, the only institute of its kind in South America dedicated to research of lactobacilli and probiotics. The conference highlighted key areas of emerging importance for lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and pertinent applications such as prebiotics and probiotics. Oscar Kuipers of the Netherlands and Ana Rute Neves of Portugal presented functional genomics and metabolic studies of the model organism, Lactococcus lactis. Roel van der Meulen and Douwina Bosscher updated the audience regarding prebiotics and specific applications of oligofructose and inulin, while Jim Versalovic and Jean Michel Antoine and provided an update regarding probiotics research with emphases on Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. Monique Zagorec provided a synopsis of the Lactobacillus sakei genome, and Pasquale Ferranti described functional foods including new classes of peptides derived from dairy products. Interesting findings were presented regarding lactic acid bacteria such as vitamin B12 production by Lactobacillus reuteri, citrate metabolism in LAB, exopolysaccharide production by LAB, and microbial:host interactions. At the conclusion of the conference, government officials spoke with optimism regarding national support of life sciences research, the universities, and institutes like CERELA. The scientific interchange evident at this conference points to a bright future for research in areas of LAB, probiotics, and prebiotics in Latin America. ISAPP Publications
The following are papers that have been published about ISAPP, commissioned by ISAPP or produced as the output from ISAPP meetings:
Considered Issues in Probiotics and Prebiotics:
Heimbach report to ISAPP on European Food Safety Authority meeting in Brussels
The European Food Safety Authority convened a session in Brussels, Belgium, 13-14 December 2004, to discuss “Scientific Colloquium on Microorganisms in Food and Feed: Qualified Presumption of Safety”. Jim Heimbach (JHeimbach LLC JHeimbach@aol.com) attended on behalf of ISAPP and filed this report. (link to pdf) ISAPP explores standards for probiotics 2005
ISAPP recognizes the value to establishing standards for the probiotic industry. Toward this end, ISAPP representatives met with US Pharmacopeia (www.usp.org) in Rockville, MD, on May 18, 2005 to discuss how probiotic companies might be able to work with USP to improve and verify product quality. USP was interested in working with ISAPP and interested industry partners for developing standards for specific products. These standards would specify levels of active ingredients through the end of shelf life. The program and adherence to standards would be voluntary, but products adhering to the standards would be able to display the USP symbol, a powerful communication tool for industry to consumers. This program would not entail validating claims of efficacy. USP has affiliates in Europe and Japan. USP/ISAPP meeting summary. ISAPP perspectives on standards. Publicity
4th Meeting of ISAPP Held at University of Ulster in Coleraine, Northern Ireland June 16-18, 2006
The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) convened a 4th by-invitation meeting June 16-18, 2006. Hosted by Dr. Ian Rowland on the campus of the modern University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, 84 scientists from 19 countries and four continents. The meeting included four presentations in the Plenary Session by Jeff Leach (Paleobiotics Lab, Silver City NM), Alexander Swidsinski (The University Hospital Charité of the Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany), Phil Sherman (Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Canada), and Lesley Houghton (University of Manchester, UK). This Plenary Session was followed by an informal session highlighting controversies in the probiotic and prebiotic fields, and a Late Breaking News session featuring 5 minute talks by selected scientists on new developments in their laboratories. The signature event for these meetings is discussion sessions which were held the following day on the topics of: Probiotics as anti-infectives: prevention and adjunct therapy, chaired by Gregor Reid; Influence of culture preparation, delivery matrix and encapsulation/co-encapsulation on probiotic and prebiotic functionality, co-chaired by Paul Ross and Claude Champagne; Probiotics and prebiotics for the control of colorectal cancer: facts and promises, co-chaired by Ian Rowland and Francisco Guarner ; Mechanisms of gut flora, probiotic and prebiotic influence on sites distant from the intestinal tract, co-chaired by Mary Ellen Sanders and Irene Lenoir; Animal uses for probiotics and prebiotics: impact on antibiotic use, chaired by Bob Rastall; Functional genomics of probiotics, chaired by Jim Versalovic; and What determines the bacteria we inherit?, co-chaired by Glenn Gibson and Karen Scott. A report from the 2006 meeting titled "Probiotics and prebiotics - strain selection, dosage, functionality, omics and applications" has been prepared by Gregor Reid and submitted for publication in Trends in Microbiology. Other publications summarizing conclusions from certain individual groups are also forthcoming. ISAPP is a non-profit scientific organization incorporated in 2002. Meetings of ISAPP were held in Ontario Canada in 2002, Henley-on-Thames, UK in 2003 and Copper Mountain, Colorado USA in 2004. An open registration meeting is being planned for June 27-28, 2006, Royal College of Physicians, London UK. More information on ISAPP can be found at the ISAPP website. Click here for the complete 2006 scientific program 2005 ISAPP-sponsored events
In 2005, the ISAPP Board of Directors decided to try to expand ISAPP’s reach beyond the past presence in North America and Europe. Especially of interest was to expand scientific communication to regions of the world not easily able to participate in state-of-the-art conferences on probiotics and prebiotics. Toward this end, we are now pleased to report that we have helped set up or will be participating in conferences or mini-symposia in several locations: Asia:
Eastern Europe:
Africa:
North America:
In addition to these activities, we are exploring additional action items:
ISAPP 2004 meeting
3rd Meeting of ISAPP Held in Colorado August 28-31, 2004 The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) met for the 3rd time to discuss the latest scientific developments in this rapidly growing field. This by-invitation meeting, surrounded by the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains in Copper Mountain Colorado August 29-31 2004, convened 84 invited scientists from 13 countries. Presentations by Joel Weinstock (University of Iowa), Thadeus Stappenbeck (Washington University School of Medicine), Connie Weaver (Purdue University), Ian Rowland (Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health) and Peter Lee (Stanford University) covered a range of topics from use of helminthes to modulate immune dysregulation to probiotics bioengineered to improve resistance to HIV. Discussion sub-groups were convened for a full day on the topics of Engineered probiotics as therapeutics: formats and challenges; Host commensal interactions - who talks to whom and how; Omics technologies - exploration of the interaction of pro and prebiotics with the host; Hygiene and immune regulation; Biomarkers for healthy people; Prebiotic and probiotic applications to companion animals; Development of a probiotic dossier using science-based criteria and Physiological relevance of prebiotic activity. A report from the 2004 meeting has been prepared and submitted for publication (Sanders, ME, Guarner, F, Mills, D, Pot, B, Rafter, J, Rastall, R, Reid, G, Ringel, Y, Rowland, I, Saarela, M, and Tuohy, K. Selected Topics in Probiotics and Prebiotics: Meeting Report for the 2004 International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics. Current Issues Intestinal Microbiol., Submitted)
In addition to the academic participants, about 25 industry scientists participated in the meeting. Twenty companies committed to science-driven probiotic and prebiotic product development contributed financially and scientifically to the meeting. Most companies are members of the ISAPP Industry Advisory Committee. This body interacts closely with the ISAPP Board of Directors, identifying key scientific issues important to the advancement of this field. ISAPP is a non-profit scientific organization incorporated in 2002. Meetings of ISAPP were held in Ontario Canada in 2002 and Henley-on-Thames , UK in 2003. More information on this organization can be found at the ISAPP website. Click here for the complete 2004 scientific program Click here for press release ISAPP 2003 meeting
ISAPP 2002 meeting
ISAPP convened an inaugural by-invitation workshop in London, Ontario May 3-5, 2002. A report on this meeting was published:
Groups from the 2002 meeting:
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Our Mission To engender and disseminate information on high quality, multidisciplinary, scientific investigation in the fields of probiotics and prebiotics, and to advance the development of scientifically substantiated, health-promoting probiotic and prebiotic products worldwide. &image=img/rotator/A2WM_02.gif) Photos courtesy of Prof. Lorenzo Morelli, Instituto di Microbiologia, Piacenza, Italy |
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