AMBROSIA EU project

About Ambrosia

In agreement to the Joint Programming Initiative “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life”, the transnational and multidisciplinary AMBROSIA project fits with the areas of food and health tackling one of major social challenges in current healthcare, the undernutrition in a well-defined “older” population, or rather Heart Failure (HF) and Atrial Fibrillation patients (AF).

In this patients’cohort, undernutrition, is one key factors leading through inflammation, to loss of function, disability and, ultimately, to death. In addition, AF and HF synergistically contribute to determine a frail status. Undernourished AF and HF patients enter a vicious cycle “of undernutrition, inflammation, cachexia”, determining a progressive cognitive decline and lean body mass regression. .Since the inflammation is closely related with the health of intestinal microbiota, shaping the gut microbiota composition with a probiotic-based food, specifically enriched with key nutrients, could be an efficacious and safe approach to break this cycle improving the cognitive functioning and skeletal muscle mass.

AMBROSIA is based on a novel research, it was planned to leverage and blend the skills of all applicants, so that there is a partnership to achieve the main objectives and an even distribution of tasks in the various work packages.

AMBROSIA aims to develop an innovative food product to prevent undernutrition in HF and AF older patients: a new chocolate AMBROSIA bar containing specific mix of probiotic strains and a cocktail of micro/macronutrients (fibers, protein hydrolysates, coenzyme Q10); further studies on the metabolism and absorption of novel hydrolysates will be performed involving the patient association. In addition, the realization of a proper-realistic strategy from development and delivery of the AMBROSIA bar to the HF and AF patients is included.

The efficacy of “AMBROSIA” bar on undernutrition prevention and its impact on cognitive functioning and skeletal muscle mass of older HF and AF patients will be evaluated through a prospective monocentric interventional clinical study. Finally, statistical and machine learning methods will be developed for the identification of features from the “Microbiota-Inflammation-Brain axis” that are predictive for undernutrition (biomarkers) and/or related to AMBROSIA bar treatment outcome.

Consortium

University of Florence

Florence, Italy
https://www.dmsc.unifi.it/

University of Dublin

Dublin, Ireland
https://www.ucd.ie/

IdiSBa

Palma de Mallorca, Spain
http://www.idisba.es/

Genevention

Göttingen, Germany
http://www.genevention.com/

Northumbria University

Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/

Synbiotec Srl

Camerino, Italy
https://www.synbiotec.com/

Project Fund

This project received funding from MUR under the umbrella of the European Joint Program 958 Initiative” A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life” (JPI-HDHL) and of the ERA-NET Cofound ERA959 HDHL, ID: 1523 (GA N 696295 of the EU HORIZON 2020 Research and Innovation Programme)

Our Objectives

AMBROSIA bar is delivered as part of a healthy diet

Atrial fibrillation is a supraventricular arrhythmia characterized by a completely disordered electrical activity of the atria. It poses major risks such as the occurrence of stroke, worsening heart failure, and dementia.

The gut microbiota plays an important role in the absorption, storage, and expenditure of energy obtained from dietary intake

The efficacy of “AMBROSIA” bar on undernutrition prevention and its impact on cognitive functioning and skeletal muscle mass of older Atrial fibrillation, Heart failure patients is evaluated through a prospective monocentric interventional clinical study.

AMBROSIA develops innovative food products to prevent undernutrition in Heart Failure (HF) and Atrial Fibrillation (AF) older patients: a new chocolate AMBROSIA bar containing specific mix of probiotic strains and a cocktail of micro/macronutrients (fibers, protein hydrolysates, coenzyme Q10)

Heart failure is a clinical syndrome caused by structural and/or functional heart abnormalities and characterized by dyspnea and fatigue due to insufficient pumping of the blood to the organ systems. It is the leading cause of hospitalization in people over the age of 65 and carries a high cost to healthcare systems, exerting a significant economic toll on patients, their families and society

Atrial fibrillation, Heart failure and abnormalities in nutritional status of elder patients are the most prevalent challenges in current healthcare, both in developed and developing countries.

AMBROSIA includes further studies on the metabolism and absorption of novel hydrolysates

AMBROSIA develops Machine learning methods for the identification of features from the “Microbiota-Inflammation-Brain axis” that are predictive for undernutrition (biomarkers) and/or related to AMBROSIA bar treatment outcome.

Due to the loss of appetite and malabsorption, they can also lead to undernutrition, which may worsen and progress toward cachexia, or rather an inflammation-related wasting process affecting all body compartments including bone, fat and skeletal muscle.

AMBROSIA” food product as a method to deliver essential macronutrients to the elderly subjects.

The proximate composition (dry matter, ash, total nitrogen content and total sugar contents) and amino acid profile (essential and non-essential amino acid profiles) of several hydrolysates will be analyzed to determine the levels of inclusion of this novel ingredient in “AMBROSIA”

The chronic or acute disease-related malnutrition is linked with chronic or acute inflammation that in turn is associated with reduced complexity of the gut microbiota and its metabolites

AMBROSIA food product will consist of a chocolate bar that combines the beneficial effects of SYNBIO® probiotics with the well-known antioxidant properties of cocoa. The probiotic specific mix, blend called SYNBIO®, is composed by two probiotic strains, Lactobacillus rhamnosus IMC 501® and Lactobacillus paracasei IMC 502.

AMBROSIA
EU PROJECT

About Ambrosia