The effect of galactose based oligosaccharides upon PBMC
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Research to determine the immunological effects of galactose based oligosaccharides (GOS) on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells using cells from healthy donors and those with inflammatory/auto-immune conditions.
IRAS ID
236841
Contact name
Caroline Childs
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Southampton
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 10 months, 10 days
Research summary
In our gut we have many billions of bacteria, and the unique pattern of bacteria each of us carry is known to be closely linked to our health and diet. Our gut is also the place where most of our immune cells are found, and throughout our life these gut immune cells monitor the food and bacteria in our gut. When working normally, this allows us to respond quickly and effectively to harmful bacteria like salmonella in our food. When not working normally, this can result in food allergies, or inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s disease.
Prebiotics are foods intended to promote the growth of ‘friendly’ bacteria in our gut. Taking prebiotics can have positive effects on health, such as improving our ability to respond to vaccinations. Prebiotics are carbohydrate-based food products, and galactose based oligosaccharides (GOS) are one example of a prebiotic.
More research is needed to understand whether the effects that prebiotics have on our health is because of their role in increasing the number of ‘friendly’ bacteria in our gut, or whether they also directly interact with the immune cells we have in our gut. We wish to investigate the direct effect of GOS on immune cells. This research will be based at the University of Southampton, with work expected to take around 3 years.
This will be a laboratory-based project using immune cells which have previously been collected from blood samples of healthy volunteers or from individuals with diseases of the gut. By mixing GOS with these immune cells in the laboratory, we can look in great detail at any changes GOS cause in immune cell activity. We hope that this information will tell us whether GOS may be likely to have health benefits, particularly for individuals with inflammatory bowel diseases.
REC name
East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/EM/0462
Date of REC Opinion
8 Dec 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion