Dietary regulation of Gut and Blood Brain Barrier function

barrier functions of the gut relate to the intestinal epithelial structure and integrity and in the brain a complex lipid based system serves as the barriers. In particular in the brain this which is the far from being fully understood. Different food components can have dramatic effects on health not only from a nutritional point of view but also as an important factor affecting gut physiology, including gastro intestinal tract barrier function, which in turn is strongly dependent on the structure of the barrier. The advanced techniques provided by MAX IV and ESS will allow us to reveal the structural and compositional changes of the barrier that occur during exposure to food components and gut microbiota. This will be conducted using biomimetic intestinal epithelial interface layer and correlated with in vitro and in vivo studies. Recent findings show that these proinflammatory components from bacteria actually reach brain tissues, which may possibly contribute to pathological responses in the brain (Dominy et al, Sci Adv 2019; 5: eaau3333). Even here structural changes might be important, which we in the longer term will explore in more detail. First we will conduct simple experiments using layers of brain lipids and study the effect of food components (lipid, starch and nucleic acids) matching the model studies used to emulate the interactions in the gut. The challenging question here is if dietary components may counteract inflammatory processes in peripheral and isolated systems such as the central nervous system.