Laufende Projekte
- Replacing dairy with plant-based alternatives in German children and adolescents: A modelling analysis on the nutritional impact
- PerMiCCion (PERsonalized MIcrobiome-Based Approaches to Early Onset Colorectal Cancer PreventION, Diagnosis and Management)
- Biomarker-based studies on the relevance of habitual phosphorus intake and dietary acid load during growth for endocrine and nephrological outcomes in adulthood
- Dietary, physical and chronobiological changes during the corona crisis among children and adolescents in Germany, The DONALD Study
- The relevance of chronotype and infant feeding for the link between diurnal timing of food intake and overweight or type 2 diabetes risk
Replacing dairy with plant-based alternatives in German children and adolescents: A modelling analysis on the nutritional impact
- Principal Investigators: Prof. Dr. Ute Nöthlings, PD Dr. oec. troph. Ute Alexy
- Researchers: Dipl. oec. troph. Eva Hohoff
- Agency: Alpro Foundation
- Time period: 2023 - 2024
This project will compare different dietary scenarios taking real-life and complete dietary patterns into account to evaluate different levels of exchanging dairy intake with plant-based alternatives. The compilation of different subgroups of dairy alternatives allows statements to be made about the most suitable products in terms of main ingredients and fortification in a particularly vulnerable group in terms of nutrient intake and thus can result in recommendations for product selection and development. The project promises to make a strong contribution with respect to the analysis of variability in dietary patterns and adoption of plant-based alternatives for human and environmental health benefits.
PerMiCCion (PERsonalized MIcrobiome-Based Approaches to Early Onset Colorectal Cancer PreventION, Diagnosis and Management)
- Laufzeit: 2022-2026
- PerMiCCion wird finanziert durch das Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF)
- Förderkennzeichen 100554612
PerMiCCion ist ein Forschungsprojekt, das zur Prävention von Darmkrebs in jüngeren und zukünftigen Generationen forscht. In den letzten Jahrzehnten hat die Inzidenz von Darmkrebs bei jungen Erwachsenen in alarmierendem Maße zugenommen. Die globale Verwestlichung der Ernährung, synthetische Lebensmittelfarbstoffe, Bewegungsmangel und sitzende Tätigkeiten wurden als Hauptrisikofaktoren identifiziert. Die Darmmikrobiota – die Gesamtheit der Mikroorganismen im menschlichen Darm – steht an der Schnittstelle zwischen dem frühen Auftreten von Darmkrebs und diesen Risikofaktoren und kann als dynamischer, lebender Sensor für jede Veränderung im menschlichen Körper betrachtet werden. Daher kann die Nutzung der jüngsten Fortschritte bei der Sequenzierung der nächsten Generation zu neuartigen mikrobiombasierten Prophylaxe-, Diagnose- und Therapieverfahren gegen Darmkrebs bei jungen Erwachsenen führen.
Neben der Universität Bonn mit der DONALD Studie sind an diesem Verbundprojekt weitere renommierte Einrichtungen beteiligt: das Leibniz-Institut für Naturstoff-Forschung und Infektionsbiologie e. V., die Universität Heidelberg, das Universitätsklinikum Münster, die Georg-August-Universität Göttingen und die Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg.
Die DONALD Studie ist mit dem Teilprojekt 3 an PerMiCCion beteiligt. Durch die Erforschung des Lebensstils und der Verhaltenshintergründe als Ursache der zunehmenden Darmkrebs Inzidenz bei jüngeren Menschen, sollen die Möglichkeiten der Prävention von früh einsetzendem Darmkrebs durch Modulation des Darmmikrobioms untersucht werden. Für dieses Ziel werden u.a. Stuhlproben bei erwachsenen Teilnehmern der DONALD Studie gesammelt. Durch Metagenomics-Sequenzierung wird eine Auflistung der taxonomischen Zusammensetzung und funktionellen Aktivität des Darms erstellt. Anschließend können Zusammenhänge mit Ernährung und Bewegung der vorangegangenen Jahre untersucht werden.
Biomarker-based studies on the relevance of habitual phosphorus intake and dietary acid load during growth for endocrine and nephrological outcomes in adulthood
- Principal Investigators: Professor Dr. Thomas Remer; Professor Dr. Stefan Alexander Wudy
- Researchers: Luciana Franco, M.Sc.; Seyedeh Masomeh Derakhshandeh Rishehri, Dr.
- Agency: German Research Foundation (DFG)
- Time period: 2021 - 2025
Whether a habitual high phosphorus (P)-intake may result in long-term adverse health outcomes is not yet clarified. Up do now, no population data are available on prospectively examined renal phosphate excretion rates determined in repeatedly – over years – collected 24-h urine samples for the non-invasive assessment of dietary P-intake. Studies are also lacking that examine possible long-term consequences of higher versus lower potential renal acid load (PRAL) for kidney health-relevant outcomes in young adulthood.
A detailed long-term trend analysis of P intake in healthy children and adolescents in Germany between 1990 and 2019 shall be performed, based on measurements of phosphate excretion in repeatedly collected 24-h urine samples in 3-17 years old participants of the DONALD study.
Potential long-term consequences of a high P-intake during childhood and adolescence will then be examined for different kidney health-relevant nephrological and endocrine-metabolic outcomes in adulthood.
Additionally, it shall be examined whether at least parts of the observed relationships between P-intake and outcomes may be explained by a habitually rather high dietary acid load, quantified – biomarker-based – via urinary PRAL measurements. Accordingly, preliminary information can be obtained on whether kidney health benefits reported for mainly plant-based, at least partly alkalizing diets like the mediterranean or the DASH diet may be contributorily caused by a habitually reduced dietary acid load.
Dietary, physical and chronobiological changes during the corona crisis among children and adolescents in Germany, The DONALD Study
Initiative: Corona Crisis and Beyond – Perspectives for Science, Scholarship and Society
- Principal Investigators: Dr. Nicole Jankovic, M.Sc.; PD Dr. oec. troph. Ute Alexy
- Researcher: Dr. Ines Perrar, M.Sc.
- Agency: VolkswagenStiftung
- Time period: 2021 - 2022
This study investigates the impact of the corona crisis on lifestyle changes among DONALD Study participants. The results will show changes in dietary intake, physical activity and chronobiology among children and adolescence in Germany during the corona crisis in comparison to the behavior prior the lockdown. This project offers a unique opportunity to assess changes of well-known risk factors for chronic disease development helping to formulate targeted public health actions for the current and future pandemic crises.
The relevance of chronotype and infant feeding for the link between diurnal timing of food intake and overweight or type 2 diabetes risk
- Principal Investigators: Dr. oec. troph. Ute Alexy, PD Dr. oec. troph. Anette Buyken, PD Dr. Christian Herder (4 workpackages)
- Researchers: Dr. Nicole Jankovic, M.Sc.
- Agency: German Research Foundation (DFG)
- Time period: 2019 - 2024
Our previous DFG funded project on “Modern circadian eating patterns in childhood and adolescence: Characteristics, trends, determinants and relevance for overweight and type 2 diabetes risk” showed that the habitual consumption of higher glycaemic index (GI) carbohydrate intakes in the evening may have adverse consequences for type 2 diabetes risk markers in young adulthood. Cross-sectional evidence indicates that later chronotypes have higher energy intakes at later times of the day. Hence, the shift towards a later chronotype which manifests during adolescence until young adulthood and/or a misalignment between chronotype and timing of food intake due to social schedules (social jetlag) may partially explain why this life-span emerges as a “critical time window” for the development of chronic diseases. From a life-course perspective it is crucial to also elucidate the potential shaping of circadian eating patterns already during infancy.
Therefore, the overall aim of this project is to investigate the relevance of circadian eating pattern and/or chronotype for metabolic health from infancy to young adulthood. Specifically, our project addresses whether a misalignment between the timing of energy and carbohydrate intake and individual circadian rhythm as captured by chronotype has adverse short- and long-term consequences for metabolic health and whether breast- or bottle-feeding in infancy is relevant for circadian eating pattern and body composition later in life.
These questions are addressed in a cross-over trial (1) and the open-cohort DONALD study (2).
- The cross-over trial will be performed enrolling each 20 university students (non-obese, 18-25 years) with an earlier and a later chronotype. Using continuous glucose monitoring it will be tested whether the 2-h and diurnal blood glucose levels and glycaemic variability differ in response to days where the same meal rich in higher GI carbohydrates is provided at breakfast (i.e. misalignment among later chronotypes) or dinner(i.e. misalignment among earlier chronotypes).
- Data from infants, children and adolescents regarding diet, anthropometrics and chronotype are collected in the DONALD study. Additionally, fasting blood samples are drawn in young adulthood that allows investigating the prospective relevance for type 2 diabetes risk factors.
This project will be the first to provide detailed information on the relevance of chronotype and infant feeding for the link between circadian eating pattern and metabolic health both over the short- and long-term. The results will substantially contribute to the evidence required for dietary recommendations on age groups being at substantial risk for social jetlag.
