Focus

AMICA (Analysis of the oral microbiome during hormonal cycle and its alterations in menopausal women) project

AMICA (Analysis of the oral microbiome during hormonal cycle and its alterations in menopausal women) is a project proposed by young ICB-CNR women researchers, directed by Dr. Fabiana Piscitelli, which aims to analyze and characterize the women salivary microbiome in function of changes in hormone levels (FSH, LH, progesterone and estradiol) during menstruation and menopause. For this reason, it is enlisting women volunteers of childbearing age and menopause between 25-70 years.
Two are the main objectives that AMICA intends to pursue:
1. Characterization of the oral microbiome (saliva) in 40 healthy women (20 of childbearing age and 20 postmenopausal) through: profiling studies using "omics" technologies (NMR, mass spectrometry metagenomics); Multiplex ELISA assays and analysis of glycosidase activity by spectroscopic colorimetric assays.
2. Identification of nutraceuticals in selected Mediterranean and Oriental diet foods (myrtle berries and wakame) and representative saliva samples will be selected to assess their glycosidase activities in presence of marine and terrestrial plants extracts and/or their fractions of. In addition, these same salivary samples will be used to produce bacterial biofilms in vitro, to assess the potential inhibitory effects and/or overexpression of the extracts and/or their fractions evaluating the growth and glycosidase activities.
In conclusion, AMICA project aims to study the female oral microbiome in a more organic and complete way, thus providing a target for the development of new nutraceutical formulations to counteract the disorders due to hormonal imbalances, moving toward the "personalized therapy".