阅读说明：本技术 用于预防代谢紊乱的合生素组合物 (Synbiotic compositions for the prevention of metabolic disorders ) 是由 E·*** C·J·P·凡林波特 A·欧斯汀 A·R·奥泽尔 J·科诺尔 M·米施克 于 2018-06-29 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及在生命早期摄食合生素后,在以后的生活中改善的肝脏健康和脂质代谢。(The present invention relates to improved liver health and lipid metabolism later in life after ingestion of synbiotic early in life.)

1. A nutritional composition comprising a combination of Bifidobacterium breve (Bifidobacterium breve) and non-digestible oligosaccharides for use in preventing and/or reducing the risk of hypercholesterolemia and/or plasma cholesterol associated atherosclerosis later in life in a human subject by administering the nutritional composition early in the life of the human subject.

2. The nutritional composition for use according to claim 1, wherein the early in life is when the human subject is 0 to 36 months of age, more preferably 0 to 12 months of age.

3. The nutritional composition for use according to any of the preceding claims, wherein later life is when the human subject is older than 5 years, more preferably older than 18 years.

4. The nutritional composition for use according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the human subject is exposed to or growing up in an obese environment, and/or is fed a western style diet with increased fat and increased saturated fatty acids after infancy, wherein the fat provides more than 35% of the total calories of the diet and the saturated fatty acids provide more than 10% of the total calories of the diet.

5. Nutritional composition for use according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the human subject is an infant at risk selected from the group consisting of: premature infants, small for gestational age infants, large for gestational age infants, infants born to overweight or obese mothers, infants born to mothers with type 2 diabetes or gestational diabetes, infants born by caesarean section, and infants who received or have received antibiotic therapy.

6. Nutritional composition for use according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the Bifidobacterium breve is Bifidobacterium breve M16V.

7. Nutritional composition for use according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the non-digestible oligosaccharides are selected from the group consisting of fructooligosaccharides, galactooligosaccharides and combinations thereof.

8. Nutritional composition for use according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the nutritional composition is an infant or follow-on or toddler formula, more preferably an infant or follow-on formula.

9. Nutritional composition for use according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the nutritional composition comprises 10⁴To 10¹²cfu bifidobacterium breve per gram dry weight of the nutritional composition, and 0.25 to 20 wt.% non-digestible oligosaccharides based on dry weight of the nutritional composition.

10. Nutritional composition for use according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the nutritional composition comprises 10⁴To 10¹²cfu bifidobacterium breve per gram dry weight of the nutritional composition and 0.25 to 20 wt.% of non-digestible oligosaccharides selected from the group consisting of galacto-oligosaccharides and fructo-oligosaccharides and mixtures thereof, based on dry weight of the nutritional composition.

11. Use of a combination of bifidobacterium breve and non-digestible oligosaccharides for the preparation of a nutritional composition for preventing and/or reducing the risk of hypercholesterolemia and/or plasma cholesterol associated atherosclerosis later in life in a human subject by administering the nutritional composition early in the life of the human subject.

12. A method for preventing and/or reducing the risk of developing hypercholesterolemia and/or plasma cholesterol associated atherosclerosis later in life in a human subject by administering a nutritional composition comprising a combination of bifidobacterium breve and a non-digestible oligosaccharide early in life.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of nutritional compositions for infants, with the aim of preventing metabolic disorders later in life.

Background

Breast feeding is the preferred method of feeding infants. It has been suggested that breast feeding early in life may affect the development of disease later in life. However, there are situations that make breast feeding impossible or less than ideal. In those cases, infant and follow-on formulas are good alternatives. The composition of modern infant formulas or follow-on formulas has been highly adapted so that many of the special nutritional requirements of rapidly growing and developing infants can be met.

The composition of the infant formula can still be improved. Formula-fed infants are obese, develop metabolic health disorders later in life, develop increased liver weight or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NFALD), or have an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease later in life compared to breast-fed infants. Early-life feeding has a long-lasting programming effect on the risk of these diseases in adulthood. These disorders are major health problems in the western world and are the leading preventable cause of death worldwide, with increasing prevalence of adults and children, which authorities view as one of the most serious public health problems in the 21 st century. About 12% to 25% of americans suffer from NAFLD, and 2% to 5% of americans are affected by NASH. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease spectrum group (spectrum) disease is estimated to affect approximately 10 million people worldwide.

WO 2006/091103 describes a composition comprising bifidobacteria (bifidobacteria) and two indigestible oligosaccharides to stimulate the intestinal flora of human milk fed infants.

WO 2013/036102 describes a composition with a specific fat component which has a programming effect on the body and when consumed on a western style diet results in a reduction in total blood cholesterol levels later in life, thereby reducing the risk of western style lifestyle diseases.

US 9,386,793 relates to a method of treatment comprising the use of probiotic Dorea and optionally prebiotics to restore the bacterial gut microbiota of healthy mammals.

WO 2011/096808 describes a composition comprising sialic acid oligosaccharides and a live Bacteroides species (Bacteroides ssp.) to reduce the risk of overweight or obesity of the infant later in life.

Disclosure of Invention

The present inventors have surprisingly found that the use of a dietary supplement of Bifidobacterium breve (Bifidobacterium breve) in combination with non-digestible oligosaccharides early in life may bring about a later life benefit when using animal models. In particular, it was found that lipid metabolism was improved after exposure to a western-style diet with increased calories and fat later in life, thereby improving liver health and plasma lipid parameters, when compared to a control group that did not receive such dietary intervention and was challenged with a western-style diet (challenge).

The present inventors have found in a mouse model that infants can be programmed in such a way that they can better tolerate the risks normally associated with western diets, when they receive a diet supplemented with bifidobacterium breve and non-digestible oligosaccharides early in their life, it was found that excessive liver weight gain can be prevented, later in life, fat accumulation (especially triglycerides) in the liver is reduced and ketone body formation (determined by the amount of plasma β -hydroxybutyrate) is increased, both of which indicate a reduction in fat absorption and an increase in fat consumption in the liver.

Thus, the use of Bifidobacterium breve together with non-digestible oligosaccharides in infancy is particularly suitable for improving lipid metabolism and preventing disorders related to lipid metabolism later in life, in particular fatty liver disease and/or hypercholesterolemia and/or plasma cholesterol related atherosclerosis.

Drawings

FIG. 1 shows plasma markers of lipid metabolism and liver parameters in early life nutritional stem prognosis in adulthood data are mean. + -. SEM ≦ 0.05 ≦ p ≦ 0.01. systemic markers of lipid homeostasis β -hydroxybutyrate, bHB (A), total cholesterol, TC (B), triglycerides, TG (C). liver markers liver weight (D), liver TC (E) and liver TG (F).

SYN: group receiving Bifidobacterium breve and indigestible oligosaccharides early in life and then western diet on days 42-98. G/F: the group received non-digestible oligosaccharides early in life and then received a western style diet on days 42-98. CTR: groups that did not receive bifidobacterium breve and indigestible oligosaccharides early in life and then western-style diets on days 42-98. REF: control group fed on standard food without nutritional intervention early in life or without western dietary challenge later in life.

Figure 2 shows plasma markers for early-life nutritional dryness prognosis of glucose homeostasis in adulthood. Data are mean ± SEM. P is less than or equal to 0.05, and p is less than or equal to 0.01. Systemic markers of glucose homeostasis: the homeostatic model evaluates insulin resistance, HOMA-IR (A), glucose (B), insulin (C), amylin (D), gastric inhibitory peptide, GIP (E), and pancreatic polypeptide, PP (F).

SYN: group receiving Bifidobacterium breve and indigestible oligosaccharides early in life and then western diet on days 42-98. G/F: the group received non-digestible oligosaccharides early in life and then received a western style diet on days 42-98. CTR: groups that did not receive bifidobacterium breve and indigestible oligosaccharides early in life and then western-style diets on days 42-98. REF: control group fed on standard food without nutritional intervention early in life or without western dietary challenge later in life.

Detailed Description

The present invention therefore relates to a method for preventing and/or reducing the risk of a human subject to develop a condition associated with impaired lipid metabolism later in life, said condition being selected from the group consisting of fatty liver disease, hypercholesterolemia and plasma cholesterol related atherosclerosis, by administering a nutritional composition comprising a combination of bifidobacterium breve and indigestible oligosaccharides early in life. Preferably, the present invention relates to a method for preventing and/or reducing the risk of a human subject developing a condition associated with impaired lipid metabolism selected from hypercholesterolemia and plasma cholesterol related atherosclerosis later in life by administering a nutritional composition comprising a combination of bifidobacterium breve and indigestible oligosaccharides early in life. In particular, the present invention relates to a method for preventing and/or reducing the risk of developing hypercholesterolemia and/or plasma cholesterol associated atherosclerosis later in life in a human subject by administering a nutritional composition comprising a combination of bifidobacterium breve and a non-digestible oligosaccharide early in life.

In one embodiment, the method of the invention is a non-medical method for preventing and/or reducing the risk of a human subject developing a condition associated with impaired lipid metabolism selected from fatty liver disease, hypercholesterolemia and plasma cholesterol related atherosclerosis in later life by administering a nutritional composition comprising a combination of bifidobacterium breve and non-digestible oligosaccharides early in life. Preferably, the present invention relates to a non-medical method for preventing and/or reducing the risk of a human subject to develop a condition associated with impaired lipid metabolism selected from hypercholesterolemia and plasma cholesterol associated atherosclerosis in later life by administering a nutritional composition comprising a combination of bifidobacterium breve and indigestible oligosaccharides early in life. In particular, the present invention relates to a non-medical method for preventing and/or reducing the risk of developing hypercholesterolemia and/or plasma cholesterol associated atherosclerosis in a human subject later in life by administering a nutritional composition comprising a combination of bifidobacterium breve and a non-digestible oligosaccharide early in life.

The present invention may also be expressed as the use of a combination of bifidobacterium breve and non-digestible oligosaccharides for the preparation of a nutritional composition for preventing and/or reducing the risk of a human subject to develop a disorder related to impaired lipid metabolism (selected from fatty liver disease, hypercholesterolemia and plasma cholesterol related atherosclerosis) later in life by administering the nutritional composition to the human subject early in life. Preferably, the present invention relates to the use of a combination of bifidobacterium breve and non-digestible oligosaccharides for the preparation of a nutritional composition for preventing and/or reducing the risk of a human subject to develop a disorder associated with impaired lipid metabolism in later life, selected from the group consisting of hypercholesterolemia and plasma cholesterol-related atherosclerosis, by administering the nutritional composition to the human subject early in life. In particular, the present invention relates to the use of a combination of bifidobacterium breve and non-digestible oligosaccharides for the preparation of a nutritional composition for preventing and/or reducing the risk of developing hypercholesterolemia and/or plasma cholesterol associated atherosclerosis in a human subject later in life by administering the nutritional composition to the human subject early in life.

The present invention may also be expressed as a nutritional composition comprising a combination of bifidobacterium breve and non-digestible oligosaccharides for use in preventing and/or reducing the risk of a human subject to develop a disorder related to impaired lipid metabolism selected from fatty liver disease, hypercholesterolemia and plasma cholesterol-related atherosclerosis in later life by administering the nutritional composition to the human subject early in life. Preferably, the present invention relates to a nutritional composition comprising a combination of bifidobacterium breve and non-digestible oligosaccharides for use in preventing and/or reducing the risk of a human subject to develop a disorder related to impaired lipid metabolism in later life, selected from the group consisting of hypercholesterolemia and plasma cholesterol-related atherosclerosis, by administering the nutritional composition to the human subject early in life. The present invention relates in particular to a nutritional composition comprising a combination of bifidobacterium breve and non-digestible oligosaccharides for use in preventing and/or reducing the risk of developing hypercholesterolemia and/or plasma cholesterol associated atherosclerosis later in life in a human subject by administering the nutritional composition to the human subject early in life.

In one embodiment, the method or use of the invention is for preventing and/or reducing the risk of developing fatty liver disease later in life. In one embodiment, the method or use of the invention is for preventing and/or reducing the risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease later in life.

In one embodiment, the method or use of the invention is for preventing and/or reducing the risk of developing hypercholesterolemia and/or plasma cholesterol associated atherosclerosis later in life.

Bifidobacterium breve (Bifidobacterium breve)

The nutritional composition in the method or use of the invention (hereinafter also referred to as the (nutritional) composition of the invention) comprises bifidobacterium breve. It was found that the presence of bifidobacterium breve together with non-digestible oligosaccharides may beneficially affect lipid metabolism and liver health later in life. Bifidobacterium breve is a gram-positive, anaerobic, branched rod-shaped bacterium. Bifidobacterium breve preferably has at least 95% identity, more preferably at least 97% identity, to the 16S rRNA sequence of Bifidobacterium breve ATCC15700 model strain (Stackelbandt & Goebel,1994, int.J.Syst.Bacteriol.44: 846-849). Preferred strains of bifidobacterium breve are those isolated from the faeces of healthy human milk fed infants. Typically, these strains are commercially available from lactic acid bacteria producers, but they can also be isolated, identified, characterized and produced directly from the faeces. According to a preferred embodiment, the composition of the invention comprises at least one bifidobacterium breve chosen from bifidobacterium breve Bb-03(Rhodia/Danisco), bifidobacterium breve M-16v (morinaga), bifidobacterium breve R0070(Institute Rosell, Lallemand), bifidobacterium breve BR03 (probiotica), bifidobacterium breve BR92(Cell Biotech), DSM20091, LMG 11613, YIT4065, FERM BP-6223 and CNCM I-2219. Most preferably the Bifidobacterium breve is selected from Bifidobacterium breve M-16V and Bifidobacterium breve CNCM I-2219, most preferably the Bifidobacterium breve is M-16V. Bifidobacterium breve I-2219 is a.o. published in WO 2004/093899 and US 7,410,653 and deposited by Comagnie Gervaisdanone at 31.5.1999 at the national Collection of Microorganisms of the Barster Institute of Pasteur, France (Collection Nationale de Cultures de Microorganisms, Institute Pasteur, Paris, France). Bifidobacterium breve M-16V is deposited as BCCM/LMG23729 and is commercially available from Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd.

The composition of the invention preferably comprises live bifidobacterium breve. The composition of the invention preferably comprises 10⁴To 10¹²Colony forming units (cfu) bifidobacterium breve/gram dry weight of the nutritional composition of the invention, preferably comprising 10 per gram dry weight of the composition of the invention⁴To 10¹¹More preferably 10⁵To 10¹⁰Most preferably 10⁶To 1x 10⁹cfu Bifidobacterium breve. Preferably, the composition comprises 10⁴To 10¹³cfu Bifidobacterium breve/100 ml, more preferably per100ml contains 10⁶To 10¹¹cfu Bifidobacterium breve, most preferably 10 per 100ml⁷To 10¹⁰cfu Bifidobacterium breve. In the context of the present invention, it is to be understood that the nutritional composition preferably does not comprise other probiotics, and thus probiotics other than bifidobacterium breve are preferably excluded from the nutritional composition in the method or use of the present invention.

Indigestible oligosaccharides

The nutritional composition in the method or use of the invention comprises non-digestible oligosaccharides (NDO). The term "oligosaccharide" as used in the present invention preferably refers to saccharides having a Degree of Polymerization (DP) of 2 to 250, preferably a DP of 2 to 100, more preferably 2 to 60. It is to be understood that saccharides having a DP within the scope of the present invention may comprise a mixture of saccharides having different average DP, for example if oligosaccharides having a DP of 2 to 100 are comprised in the composition of the present invention, this may comprise compositions comprising oligosaccharides having an average DP of 2 to 5, an average DP of 50 to 70, and an average DP of 7 to 60. The term "indigestible oligosaccharide" as used herein refers to an oligosaccharide which is not or only partially digestible in the intestinal tract by the action of acids or digestive enzymes present in the human upper intestinal tract (small intestine and stomach), but which is fermented by the human intestinal flora. For example, sucrose, lactose, maltose and maltodextrin are considered digestible. For example, galacto-oligosaccharides, fructo-oligosaccharides are considered indigestible oligosaccharides.

Preferably, the indigestible oligosaccharide is soluble. The term "soluble" as used herein when referring to an oligosaccharide means that the oligosaccharide is soluble according to the method described in l.prosky et al, j.assoc.off.anal.chem.71,1017-1023 (1988).

The non-digestible oligosaccharides are preferably selected from the group consisting of fructooligosaccharides, galactooligosaccharides, glucooligosaccharides, arabinooligosaccharides, mannooligosaccharides, xylooligosaccharides, fucooligosaccharides, arabinogalactoligosaccharides, glucomannooligosaccharides, galactomannooligosaccharides, sialic acid containing oligosaccharides and uronic acid oligosaccharides.

Preferably, the composition of the invention comprises fructooligosaccharides and/or galactooligosaccharides, more preferably galactooligosaccharides, most preferably transgalactooligosaccharides. In a preferred embodiment, the composition comprises a mixture of galacto-oligosaccharides and fructo-oligosaccharides. Preferably, the composition of the invention comprises galacto-oligosaccharides with a DP of 2 to 10, preferably an average DP of 2 to 10, and/or fructo-oligosaccharides with a DP of 2 to 60, preferably an average DP of 10 to 60, preferably an average DP of 15 to 60, preferably an average DP of 20 to 60. In these preferred embodiments, the presence of non-digestible oligosaccharides will have an improving effect on lipid metabolism and liver health later in life.

The galactooligosaccharides are preferably selected from transgalactooligosaccharides. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the method of the invention comprises the administration of transgalacto-oligosaccharides ([ galactose ] s-igosaccharides]_n-glucose; wherein n is an integer from 1 to 60, i.e., 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, … …, 59, 60; preferably n is selected from 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7, 8, 9 or 10). Trans-galacto-oligosaccharides (TOS), for example under the trade mark Vivinal^TM(Borculo Domo Ingredients, the Netherlands.) the saccharide of the transgalactooligosaccharide is preferably β -linked.

The term "fructooligosaccharide" as used herein refers to a non-digestible polysaccharide comprising a chain of at least 2 β -linked fructose units, with a DP of 2 to 250, preferably 7 to 100, more preferably 20 to 60

(Orafti) obtained the fructooligosaccharides of the invention preferably have an average DP of at least 7, more preferably at least 10, preferably below 100 the fructooligosaccharides used preferably have (most) of the fructose units linked by β (2 → 1) linkages other terms of fructooligosaccharides include inulin, fructopolysaccharides (fructicosaccharide), polyfructose (polyfructose), fructans (fructans) and oligofructose (oligofructicose) the compositions of the invention preferably comprise fructooligosaccharides with a DP of 2 to 200.

In a preferred embodiment, the composition of the invention comprises two or more non-digestible carbohydrates, which differ in monosaccharide unit composition, or Degree of Polymerisation (DP), or both. The monosaccharide compositions of the two non-digestible carbohydrates differ, there being at least a 30% by number difference, more preferably at least a 50% by number difference in monosaccharide composition, when based on the total number of monosaccharide units. For example, galactooligosaccharides with an average composition of Glu-Gal3 and fructooligosaccharides with an average composition of Glu-Fru3 differ by 75% by number. The DP of two indigestible carbohydrates differs if the average DP of the two carbohydrates differs by more than 5 monosaccharide units, preferably more than 10 units, even more preferably more than 15 units. For example, hydrolyzed inulin with an average DP of 4 and long-chain inulin with an average DP of 25 differ by 21 units in DP.

Preferably, the composition of the invention comprises galacto-oligosaccharides with an average DP between 2 and 10 and fructo-oligosaccharides with an average DP between 10 and 60. Preferably, the composition of the invention comprises fructooligosaccharides with an average DP between 2 and 10 and fructooligosaccharides with an average DP between 15 and 60. Preferably, the composition of the invention comprises galacto-oligosaccharides with an average DP between 2 and 10 and fructo-oligosaccharides with an average DP between 2 and 10. In these preferred embodiments, the presence of non-digestible oligosaccharides will have an improving effect on lipid metabolism and liver health later in life.

Preferably, the composition of the invention comprises galacto-and fructo-oligosaccharides in a weight ratio of 20 to 0.5, more preferably 20 to 1, most preferably 12 to 2.

Preferably, the present composition comprises 80mg to 2g non-digestible oligosaccharides per 100ml, more preferably 150mg to 1.50g, even more preferably 300mg to 1g per 100 ml. Based on dry weight, the composition preferably comprises 0.25 to 20 wt.%, more preferably 0.5 to 10 wt.%, even more preferably 1.5 to 7.5 wt.% of non-digestible oligosaccharides.

Preferably, the composition of the present invention comprises 10⁴To 10¹²cfu Bifidobacterium breve/gram dry weight and 0.25 to 20 wt.% indigestible low based on dry weightA glycan, more preferably 10⁵To 10¹⁰cfu bifidobacterium breve/gram dry weight and 0.5 to 10 wt.% non-digestible oligosaccharides based on dry weight. Preferably, the composition of the invention does not comprise a probiotic other than bifidobacterium breve.

Preferably, the composition of the present invention comprises 10⁴To 10¹³cfu Bifidobacterium breve and 80mg to 2g indigestible oligosaccharides per 100ml, more preferably 10 per 100ml⁶To 10¹¹cfu Bifidobacterium breve and 300mg to 1g indigestible oligosaccharides. Preferably, the composition of the invention does not comprise a probiotic other than bifidobacterium breve.

Preferably, the nutritional composition of the invention comprises: i)1x 10⁵cfu to 1x 10¹⁰cfu Bifidobacterium breve/g dry weight, more preferably 1X 10⁶cfu to 1x 10¹⁰cfu; and ii) 0.5 to 20 wt.% galacto-oligosaccharide, more preferably 0.5 to 10 wt.% galacto-oligosaccharide on a dry weight basis, or iii) 0.05 to 2 wt.% fructo-oligosaccharide, more preferably 0.1 to 1 wt.% fructo-oligosaccharide on a dry weight basis, or both ii) and iii). Preferably, the nutritional composition of the invention does not comprise a probiotic other than bifidobacterium breve.

Nutritional composition

The nutritional composition in the method or use of the invention is preferably particularly suitable for providing daily nutritional requirements to a human subject with an age below 36 months, in particular a human subject with an age below 24 months, even more preferably a human subject with an age below 18 months, most preferably an infant with an age below 12 months. Thus, the nutritional composition is for feeding or is used for feeding a human subject. The present composition preferably comprises a lipid, a protein and a digestible carbohydrate component, wherein the lipid component preferably provides 30 to 60% of the total calories, the protein component preferably provides 5 to 20 wt%, more preferably 5 to 15 wt% of the total calories and the digestible carbohydrate component preferably provides 25% to 75% of the total calories. Preferably, the present composition comprises a lipid component providing 35% to 50% of the total calories, a protein component providing 6% to 12% of the total calories and a digestible carbohydrate component providing 40% to 60% of the total calories. The amount of total calories is determined by the sum of calories of protein, lipid and digestible carbohydrates.

The composition of the present invention is not human milk. The composition of the invention preferably comprises vegetable lipids. According to the international guidelines for infant formula, the composition of the invention preferably comprises other fractions, such as vitamins and minerals. Preferably, the nutritional composition is an infant, follow-on or toddler formula, more preferably an infant or follow-on formula.

Preferably, the nutritional composition does not comprise lactobacillus (lactobacillus). A reduction of lactobacilli was found in groups that had received bifidobacterium breve and non-digestible oligosaccharides early in life and had improved lipid metabolism and liver health later in life.

In one embodiment, the composition of the invention is a powder suitable for preparing a liquid composition after reconstitution with an aqueous solution, preferably water. Preferably, the composition of the invention is a powder to be reconstituted with water.

To meet the caloric requirements of the infant, the composition preferably comprises 50 to 200kcal/100ml of liquid, more preferably 60 to 90kcal/100ml of liquid, even more preferably 60 to 75kcal/100ml of liquid. This heat density ensures an optimal ratio between water and heat consumption. The osmolality of the composition of the invention is preferably from 150 to 420mOsmol/l, more preferably from 260 to 320 mOsmol/l. Low osmolarity aims to reduce gastrointestinal stress. Pressure induces adipogenesis.

Preferably, the compositions of the present invention are in liquid form in a Brookfield viscometer (Brookfield viscometer) at 20 ℃ for 100s^-1The viscosity of the composition is less than 35mpa.s, more preferably less than 6mpa.s, as measured by the shear rate of (a). Suitably, the composition is in the form of a powder, which may be reconstituted with water to form a liquid, or in the form of a liquid concentrate (which should be diluted with water). When the composition is in liquid form, the preferred volume administered per day is from about 80 to 2500ml, more preferably from about 450 to 1 per day000ml。

Use of

Using animal models, it was found that the combination of bifidobacteria and non-digestible oligosaccharides (rather than just non-digestible oligosaccharides and no bifidobacteria) when administered early in life beneficially affected parameters indicative of improved lipid metabolism and liver health later in life compared to a control group that did not receive such dietary intervention and received western dietary challenges.

The present invention relates to a nutritional composition comprising bifidobacterium breve and non-digestible oligosaccharides for use in improving lipid metabolism and liver health in a human subject later in life by administering the nutritional composition to the human subject early in life.

In addition, it was unexpectedly found that subjects exhibit reduced fat accumulation, increased ketone body formation, which is indicated by effects on plasma β -hydroxybutyrate and GIP levels, increased ketone body formation after fasting or exercise indicates improved rapid metabolic conversion of carbohydrate oxidation to fat oxidation, in the case of increased or high dietary fat, ketogenic effects may help to remove fat that enters the liver in large quantities, and dysfunction of this pathway may contribute to the development of ketogenic effects in preventing diet-induced ld may play an important role.

Fatty liver diseases include alcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Preferably, the synbiotic compositions of the present invention are administered early in life for the purpose of preventing or reducing the risk of developing NAFLD later in life. NAFLD covers a spectrum of disease activities. This spectral population begins with fat accumulation in the liver (hepatic steatosis). The liver can retain fat without interfering with liver function, but can also progress to a state of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) (steatosis combined with inflammation and fibrosis (steatohepatitis). NASH is a progressive disease, with a period of more than 10 years, up to 20% of NASH patients will develop cirrhosis, and up to 10% will develop death associated with liver disease.

In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a nutritional composition comprising bifidobacterium breve and non-digestible oligosaccharides for use in preventing and/or reducing the risk of a human subject to develop liver weight gain and/or fatty liver disease later in life by administering the nutritional composition to a human subject early in life, more preferably for preventing and/or reducing the risk of developing NAFLD.

In the group that had received synbiotics early in life, a significant reduction in plasma cholesterol was observed later in life. Furthermore, gene expression studies showed that cholesterol biosynthesis, storage, transport distribution and cellular homeostasis in synbiotic groups were more comparable to healthy control groups compared to control groups exposed to western diet that did not receive synbiotic early in life. A decrease in plasma levels of cholesterol indicates that the risk of developing hypercholesterolemia and/or atherosclerosis is prevented or reduced. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a nutritional composition comprising bifidobacterium breve and indigestible oligosaccharides for use in reducing plasma cholesterol levels in a human subject later in life and/or for use in preventing and/or reducing the risk of developing hypercholesterolemia and/or plasma cholesterol associated atherosclerosis in a human subject later in life by administering the nutritional composition to a human subject early in life.

The compositions of the present invention will be administered to human subjects early in life. Early in life preferably means when the age of the human subject is less than 36 months, preferably when the age of the human subject is less than 24 months, even more preferably when the age of the human subject is less than 18 months, more preferably when the human subject is an infant with an age of less than 12 months, most preferably when the human subject is an infant with an age of less than 6 months. In one embodiment, the composition of the invention is administered to a healthy human subject early in life, preferably to a human subject born at term.

According to the present invention, later life preferably means when the human subject is a child or preferably an adult. Preferably, later life refers to the age of the human subject being greater than 5 years of age, and more preferably greater than 18 years of age. The risk of prevention or reduction in risk later in life differs from the direct preventive effect (effect produced upon dietary nutritional intervention) in that it may well extend its health effect further in life after cessation of the dietary nutritional composition, for example, at least 2 years, more preferably at least 4 years, more preferably at least 15 years after cessation of the formula. It is believed that this effect later in life is due to a programming effect, wherein in the early life, while the human subject is still growing and developing, the organ and its metabolic capacity (such as adipogenesis, pancreatic B-cell mass formation, liver development) are programmed in a critical window early in life, and the effect occurring in this period has a healthy effect later in life. Indeed, microbiota transfer at postnatal day 42 had no effect on metabolic health, indicating that the critical window for mice has passed.

In a preferred embodiment, the nutritional composition comprising bifidobacterium breve and non-digestible oligosaccharides is used in a human subject exposed to or growing in an obese environment and/or consuming a western style diet after infancy. Western style diets are increased in fat and saturated fatty acids, wherein fat provides more than 35% of the total calories of the diet and saturated fatty acids provide more than 10% of the total calories of the diet. The term obese environment refers to an environment that promotes weight gain, as well as an environment that is not conducive to weight loss at home or at work (Swinburn et al, 1999, Prev Med 29: 563-. In other words, an obese environment refers to an environment that promotes, induces, helps or contributes to obesity. The contributors are urbanization, often accompanied by a reduction in physical activity and easy access to food. In one embodiment, the nutritional composition is particularly beneficial to infants exposed to an environment where the daily diet is a western style diet with increased fat or high fat and increased saturated fatty acids or high saturated fatty acids, wherein the fat provides more than 35% of the total calories of the diet and the saturated fatty acids provide more than 10% of the total calories of the diet, more particularly, the western style diet is characterized by comprising fat providing 35% to 45% of the total calories of the diet and comprising saturated fatty acids providing 10% to 20% of the total calories of the diet.

In a preferred embodiment, the human subject is at risk of developing a disease associated with impaired lipid metabolism or impaired liver health later in life. Thus, the human subject is preferably selected from the group consisting of preterm infants, infants less than gestational age, infants greater than gestational age, infants born to overweight or obese mothers, infants born to mothers with type 2 diabetes or gestational diabetes, infants born by caesarean section and infants undergoing or having undergone antibiotic treatment.

In this document and in its claims, the verb "to comprise" and its conjugations is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. In addition, reference to an element by the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements. Thus, the indefinite article "a" or "an" generally means "at least one".