In a study that our and Mattias Lorentzon's research groups published in Nature, we isolated Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, a butyrate-producing bacterium with anti-inflammatory properties, together with another bacterium, Desulfovibrio piger. The latter has beneficial effects on Faecalibacterium prausnitzii's growth and butyrate acid production. By then training the oxygen-sensitive Faecalibacterium prausnitzii in a favorable electrochemical environment, we were able to isolate more oxygen-resistant bacteria. We have now been able to show that the bacterial combination is safe for humans, and we are now conducting studies to investigate if the addition of these bacteria has beneficial effects on blood sugar control in individuals with pre-diabetes.

“By combining a naturally occurring symbiosis with “training” of the bacteria, we have established a new strategy for producing otherwise oxygen-sensitive bacteria as live biotherapeutic products, which could prevent diseases when these bacteria are reduced in number, says Fredrik Bäckhed."

Special congratulations to Tanweer Khan and Chinmay Dwibedi who are first authors on the study.

To the press release "Important step toward next-generation probiotics" at the University "Akademiliv" 

For X (Twitter) follower comments to the publication @BackhedLab