DINI AXIS

Communication in Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs): Esperer Nutrition’s Therapeutic  Immunomodulatory Research with Nutraceuticals addresses Transmissible Component in NCDs Esperer Nutrition is striving for the development of evidence based therapeutic nutrition for various cancers as well as non-communicable diseases (NCDs) backed up by innovative research. An infectious (communicable) disease can be stated as a malady in which a particular infectious agent (or its toxins) gets transmitted
from an individual to a susceptible host. Contrastingly, a non-communicable disease (NCD) is defined as an indication having no known causative agents to be transmitted from one affected individual to another. Few decades back, there were clear demarcations between infectious diseases and NCDs. As time rolled on, scrupulous scientific observation has stumbled upon with an increasing number of NCDs being associated with an infectious risk factor, blurring the distinction between an infectious disease and NCD to some extent. It is, therefore, imperative to bring to the fore their linkages and interactions.

The human microbiota consists of a panoply of microbes (including bacteria, fungi, and viruses) residing in the body, majority being in the gut and playing crucial roles in many physiological functions, including digestion, immune responses, metabolism, etc. However, It is not yet absolutely clear the extent to which microbial dispersal between humans contributes to NCDs rendering it as a subject for intense investigation. A way to be able to establish some causal links beyond mere correlations between dysbiotic gut microbiota and occurrence of NCDs is therefore needed.

For instance, in case of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), the most prevalent NCD worldwide, there are strong correlations with the prevalence of particular gut microbiota that encode the enzyme choline trimethylamine (TMA)–lyase (CutC) that metabolizes phosphocholine and carnitine (from red meat) into TMA, which then undergoes host hepatic oxidation into trimethylamine oxide (TMAO). TMAO has been shown to affect cholesterol and sterol metabolism in animal models, enhancing macrophage cholesterol accumulation and atherosclerosis development.

Our scientific team is now exploring the field to identify various environmental risk factors (in addition to the genetic risk factors) to establish molecular pathways causally linking them with NCDs. At the same time, we are looking for immunomodulatory therapeutic nutrition to prevent and/or manage NCDs.

Together, we call it Diet-infection-nutrition-immunity (DINI) Axis and started investigating the phenomenon across various disease models. Esperer Nutrition’s Enorma portfolio has been carefully designed considering DINI Axis hypothesis as a base concept.