Duration
15h Th, 5h AUTR
Number of credits
| Master in biomedicine (120 ECTS) | 2 crédits |
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
English language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
Adances in Nutrition and GIT Biology will explore several aspects of digestive tract.
We will first discuss about the different facets of gut immunity including the mucosal barrier, the absorptive surface, immune reactions to foreign antigens, maintenance of tolerance to benign antigens and building appropriate response to pathogenic insults.
The intervention of the immune system in the postnatal development of the small intestine (and other digestive organs) will then be briefly discussed.
The intestinal microbiota plays a fundamental role in the development and proper function of the immune system from birth. The intestinal colonization of the newborn by the mother during delivery and during breastfeeding is essential for the establishment of a favorable intestinal microbiota. But the composition of the gut microbiota can be influenced by many other factors such as antibiotics, stress, diet, environment, infectious agents. The establishment of a balanced microbial population (composition, amount, metabolites produced, interaction with the intestinal epithelium and the intestinal-associated immune system) at the beginning or during the life of an individual is essential. The use of synbiotics, a combination of probiotics and prebiotics (nutrients specific to microbial populations) as specialized microbial regulator supplements, may be of interest for the health of the gut microbiota.
Research on the human microbiota and particularly on the gut microbiota has taken off with the new technologies of molecular biology and bioinformatics. Like microbiology, microbiota analysis is based on indirect techniques focusing on three essential questions: what are the microbial populations present, what are their metabolic potentials and what are the products of their metabolism. The course illustrates the usual and modern techniques for addressing these three issues.
The section dedicated to microbiological risks and their control aims to provide an overview of the main parasites, protozoa, bacteria, viruses and microbial toxins responsible for foodborne illness in Belgium and their control, including by modifying the microbiota.
The section dedicated to chemical risks aims to provide an overview of the main chemical hazards associated with the food chain, their toxicity and the measures implemented to ensure consumer safety (reference toxicological values and maximum limits in foods, set in European legislation).
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
At the end of the course, you will be able to:
- understand the broad lines of defense and particularity of the immune responses of the digestive system (the intestine in particular).
- understand the events and mechanisms that control the postnatal development of the intestine.
- understand the different criteria for judging the quality of a probiotic or a prebiotic.
- criticize the various studies published in the field of pro and prebiotics.
- criticize the in vitro models used to evaluate the effect of a probiotic or a prebiotic.
- understand some technical and qualitative aspects of microbiota analysis methods
- understand the advantages and limitations of each method in order to choose and use the best method of microbiota analysis according to the scientific question asked.
- read and critically critique a scientific publication in the field of gut microbiota.
- cite the main foodborne pathogens in Belgium and characterize their virulence potential, their reservoirs, the main associated foods and the control measures to be implemented.
- explain how the food and gut microbiota can help control foodborne illness.
- cite the main chemical hazards associated with the food chain, and explain how the maximum limits set in the legislation ensure the safety of the consumer.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Knowledge of fundamental bases in Immunology, structure and function of the digestive system and nutrition.
Basic knowledge of microbiology and parasitology.
Basic knowledge of chemistry and biology.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Lectures
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face
Recommended or required readings
Veldhoen & Brucklacher-Waldert. Dietary influences on intestinal immunity, Nature Reviews, 12, 696-708. doi:10.1038/nri3299
Round & Mazmanian. The gut microbiota shapes intestinal immune responses during health and disease. Nature Reviews, 9, 313-323. doi:10.1038/nri2515
Mowat. To respond or not to respond - a personnal perspective of intestinal tolerance. Nature Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-018-0002-x
Peulen, O. J., Deloyer, P., Grandfils, C., Loret, S. & Dandrifosse, G. Intestinal maturation induced by spermine in young animals. Livestock Production Science 66, 109-120 (2000).
Zhou, J. et al. High-Throughput Metagenomic Technologies for Complex Microbial Community Analysis: Open and Closed Formats. mBio 6, e02288-14 (2015)
Lau, J. T. et al. Capturing the diversity of the human gut microbiota through culture-enriched molecular profiling. Genome Medicine 8, 1635 (2016).
Wooley, J. C., Godzik, A. & Friedberg, I. A primer on metagenomics. PLoS Comput Biol 6, e1000667 (2010).
Fondi, M. & Pietro Liò. Multi -omics and metabolic modelling pipelines: Challenges and tools for systems microbiology. Microbiological Research 171, 52-64 (2015).
Fiches ANSES sur agents pathogènes transmis par les aliments à disposer sur eCampus
Avis de l'EFSA concernant les contaminants chimiques dans les aliments (URL=https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/publications/?f[0]=im_field_subject:61826&f[1]=im_field_subject:62081&f[2]=im_field_subject:61866]https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/publications/?f%5B0%5D=im_field_subject%3A61826&f%5B1%5D=im_field_subject%3A62081&f%5B2%5D=im_field_subject%3A61866)
Assessment methods and criteria
Any session :
- In-person
written exam ( multiple-choice questionnaire, open-ended questions )
- Remote
written exam
- If evaluation in "hybrid"
preferred remote
Additional information:
Written exam
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
Contacts
srahmouni@uliege.be - +32 4 3662830
olivier.peulen@uliege.be - +32 4 3663792
veronique.delcenserie@uliege.be
bernard.taminiau@uliege.be - +32 4 3664226
georges.daube@uliege.be - +32 4 3664015
mlscippo@uliege.be - + 32 4 3664040