• Olink protein biomarker panel indicates fermented foods fight inflammation

    Could food be used to fight chronic disease?
    One of the hallmarks of industrialization, the western diet, is associated with a drastic decrease in the diversity of our gut microbiome. As a result, chronic inflammation, which is implicit in non-communicable diseases, has also risen. As our gut microbiota thrives or dies on what we eat, could introducing foods that support a healthy gut microbiome reduce chronic inflammation?

    In a preliminary preprint ahead of publication in a peer-reviewed journal, a team at Stanford University report the effects of high fiber or fermented food diets on microbiome diversity and inflammation using a cohort of 36 participants, where 18 were put on a fermented food diet (an increase from ~0.4 to ~6.3 servings of fermented foods per day), and 21 on a high fiber diet (an increase from ~21.5 g to ~45 g of fiber per day).

    Microbiome and host immune system relationship indicated

    Researchers ran Olink’s Target 96 Inflammation panel on plasma samples, as well as analyzing the gut microbiomes of all study participants before, during, and after the diet period. Overall, both diets resulted in a change in the microbiome as well as participants’ immune systems. Even further, there were significant correlations between the microbiome and host immune system that indicate a complex relationship between the two.

    For example, plasma protein profiles of the high fiber cohort divided the participants into groups according to high or low body inflammation, and it was found that participants in the low inflammation groups had more diverse gut microbiomes. The study also revealed many coordinated host-microbiome relationships, such as that between microbiome-encoded CAZymes and disease-associated proteins. As CAZyme abundance increases, levels of inflammation-associated proteins decrease, suggesting that CAZymes directly affect cells’ response to inflammation cues.

    icon-quote-t_green

    The results from this study are another contribution to the growing body of research on the use of diet as a powerful therapeutic tool to treat chronic inflammation and non-communicable disease.

    Even more interesting was the effect of the fermented food diet on host immune response. Not only did increasing fermented foods in participants’ diets increase microbiota diversity, but it also led to a decrease in inflammation markers. This includes IL-6, a key mediator of chronic inflammation. A decrease in overall endogenous signaling, identified by measuring the activation levels of 15 immune proteins, further suggests a decrease in systemic inflammation in the fermented food cohort.

    It is already known that chronic inflammation, a driving factor of non-communicable diseases, is heavily influenced by the gut microbiota, which in turn is influenced by diet. However, the results from this study describe a complex relationship between the host immune system and the gut microbiome, so that by changing diet, one may indirectly impact host immune response. The results from this study are another contribution to the growing body of research on the use of diet as a powerful therapeutic tool to treat chronic inflammation and non-communicable disease.

    icon-9.1

    Wastyk et al. 2020, Gut Microbiota-Targeted Diets Modulate Human Immune Status, BioRXV

    How the proteome behaves in healthy individuals

    Clinical research, Multiomics
    To achieve the goal of precision medicine, not only do different molecular profiles need to be understood in disease populations, but they must also be understood in the context of healthy populations.

    Key proteomics publications from 2020

    Proteomics
    Welcome to the first post of the all-new weekly Olink to Science! Our customer survey revealed that you would like to know more about the many publications, research, and other science happening at Olink, therefore this blog aims to do just that: keep you informed on the exciting science taking place with our technology.

    Protein biomarkers are crucial in early detection of cancer

    Clinical research, Oncology, Protein biomarkers
    A central premise of precision medicine is to identify biomarkers indicative of disease transitions early on. This is especially important in cancer where early treatment intervention could increase a patient’s chance of survival and reduce the probability of cancer recurrence.

    Using PEA and RNA-Seq to study disease pathology

    Clinical research, Proteomics
    The following study illustrates how transcriptomics and proteomics complement one another to clarify the pathology of a complex, and little understood disease. Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common chronic skin condition affecting up to 20% of children and 7-10% of adults, depending on the population.

    Olink protein biomarker panel indicates fermented foods fight inflammation

    Inflammation, Proteomics
    Could food be used to fight chronic disease?

    Study identifies proteins involved in immunotherapy response

    Oncology, Proteomics
    'Ultimately, it is all about understanding and treating patients better in the future.'

    Proteins diagnostic of lung cancer up to 5 years before disease onset

    Oncology
    An earlier Olink to Science blog post covered some amazing research that found that certain blood protein biomarkers have the potential to predict cancer up to 3 years before diagnosis. This may also be the case for lung cancer, as detailed in a recent study by Dagnino and her colleagues, where elevated levels of CDCP1 were detected in participants of a cohort who later developed the disease.

    Utilizing proteogenomics technology for novel drug target discovery

    Drug discovery & development
    High-throughput multiplexed proteomic technology is leading the way to the latest developments in pre-clinical disease analysis in drug discovery. The pharmaceutical industry is now increasing its efforts in the discovery of novel drug targets by using protein quantitative trait loci (pQTLs), which allows for a more confident inference of disease causality and associated protein regulation.

    Developing a high-performance biomarker panel for Alzheimer’s disease

    Clinical research, Neurology, Protein biomarkers
    A simple search of the term ‘scourge of Alzheimer’s Disease’ brings up over half a million website hits. A major disease, about 15% of us that reach the age of 67 to 74, and 44% of those 75 to 84 will develop AD.

    How proteomics helped diabetic kidney disease research advance

    Clinical research, Proteomics
    Dr. Krolewski and his team at the Harvard Medical School found 56 proteins to be significant in diabetic kidney disease patients. Potentially, these could serve as prognostic biomarkers for disease progression and treatment response. This is how adding proteomics to the methodologies elevated their research.

    2947

    Biomarker assays

    ~881 million

    Protein data points generated

    1281

    Publications listed on website

    Contact us!