Grant: Operating Grant

The diet of modern western societies has changed over the past 100 years to contain high levels of processed refined sugars and animal fat. This change from a diet high in fruits and vegetables to a diet high in sugar/fat has happened during the same time that an increase in the number of people who develop inflammatory bowel disease has happened. The aim of this grant is to test the hypothesis that increasing dietary refined sugars in combination with animal fat causes a change in what kind of bacteria are found in the gut. This change in bacteria could also change what type of bacterial products are produced in the intestine and may result in an increase in the production of inflammatory types of products and a decrease in anti-inflammatory products. This in turn could cause a breakdown in gut barrier function and increase an inflammatory type of immune response. We will test if feeding healthy mice and mice which are genetically altered to develop colitis a processed diet from birth causes changes in the bacteria that make the mouse more susceptible to insults and more likely to develop colitis as an adult. We will also test different combinations of sugar and fat to see how they interact together to change bacteria and immune function. Finally, we will examine specific treatments aimed at changing bacteria function in the gut to help reduce inflammation in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.