26/11/2024
Researchers from five European countries have come together under the "NutriEV" project, a research initiative aimed at exploring extracellular vesicles (EVs) as potential superfoods, biosensors, and therapeutic tools. The project will study nutrient-enriched extracellular vesicles (nutriEVs) derived from plants and from raw and fermented foods, with a focus on addressing global issues such as obesity and metabolic disorders. The project is coordinated by the University of Oulu in Finland, in collaboration with the National Council of Research of Italy (Cnr), the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany, the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
Addressing the Global Obesity Crisis
With global obesity rates nearly tripling since 1975, the rise in associated conditions like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer has reached a critical level. Obesity alone can shorten life expectancy by up to 20 years and imposes significant economic costs due to heightened healthcare needs and reduced productivity. "NutriEV" seeks to address these issues by investigating how EVs from plants and raw and fermented foods can improve gut health and support metabolic balance.
Work Package 1 leader, Gabriella Pocsfalvi (Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources - Cnr-Ibbr) will coordinate the work of isolating and purifying plant-based raw and fermented foods and the team headed by Vincenzina Fusco (ISPA) will study their potential antimicrobial activities. By analyzing molecular data from nutriEVs and their association with obesity and other metabolic disorders, the project aims to refine dietary guidelines and explore new dietary approaches, examining how nutriEVs interact with gut cells and the microbiome to influence metabolism and immune responses.
Emerging evidence suggests that EVs carry unique molecular signatures that are detectable even in human sweat, opening pathways for non-invasive biosensing technologies to monitor nutritional health, which will also be investigated during the project.
According to Seppo Vainio, Research Leader at the Developmental Biology Laboratory of the project’s coordinating institution, the University of Oulu, "NutriEV’s biomonitoring technologies have the potential to revolutionize methods for evaluating the effects of nutrition and offer promising applications for both the food industry and medical fields".
Per informazioni:
Gabriella Pocsfalvi
Cnr-Ibbr
gabriellakatalin.pocsfalvi@cnr.it
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