ISAPP’s scientific consensus definition of gut health

This episode features two guests from the ISAPP board of directors who led the recently published consensus definition of gut health: Prof. Maria Marco PhD from UC Davis (USA), and Prof. Eamonn Quigley MD from Houston Methodist Hospital (USA). In the paper, the group defines gut health as: “a state of normal gastrointestinal function without active gastrointestinal disease and gut-related symptoms that affect quality of life”. Gut health is a commonly used term that previously had no scientific definition. Initially the group of experts (both scientists and physicians) that met to discuss it had a lot of skepticism, but they became more enthusiastic and engaged as the discussion proceeded and were finally able to reach consensus. The group identified 6 distinct domains that are encompassed under gut health: gut microbiome, gut barrier, gastrointestinal physiology (primarily intestinal secretions and motility), gut-brain axis, immune function, and metabolism. The group hopes it will provide clarity over time about which aspect(s) of gut health are being assessed in a given study (as it’s not realistic to look at all aspects in a single study). One difficulty is that some of the tests available to measure these domains are quite limited and/or invasive. Nor do consistent correlations exist between symptoms and objective measures of the 6 domains. Determinants of gut health are also discussed in the paper, with diet being important among these.
Episode abbreviations and links:
Gut health consensus definition paper: The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) consensus statement on the definition and scope of gut health
Earlier publication on gut health by Bischoff: ‘Gut health’: a new objective in medicine?
About Prof. Maria Marco PhD:
Dr. Maria Marco PhD, is President of ISAPP’s board of directors and Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis. She earned her PhD in microbiology at the University of California, Berkeley. Prof. Marco started her lactic acid bacteria and gut health laboratory at UC Davis in 2008 and has built an internationally-recognized, NIH, USDA, and NSF funded research program on probiotics, fermented foods, and dietary modulation of the gut microbiome. She is currently a fellow in the American Academy of Microbiology.
About Prof. Eamonn Quigley MD:
Dr. Eamonn M M Quigley MD FRCP FACP MACG FRCPI MWGO is David M Underwood Chair of Medicine in Digestive Disorders and Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Houston Methodist Hospital. A native of Cork, Ireland, he graduated in medicine from University College Cork. He trained in internal medicine in Glasgow, completed a two-year research fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, and training in gastroenterology in Manchester, UK. He joined the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 1986 where he rose to become Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Returning to Cork in 1998 he served as Dean of the Medical School and a PI at the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Center. He served as president of the American College of Gastroenterology and the WGO and as editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.