Inactivated Methanobrevibacter Archaea Composition for Immune Modulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge lies in efficiently enriching and inactivating Methanobrevibacter archaea to enhance immune-modulating benefits while minimizing methane production, which is a drawback of using live archaea as probiotics, and ensuring the viability of probiotics in processed food/feed for quality control and certification.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the inactivation of Methanobrevibacter archaea using a combination of air, heat, or infra-red irradiation, followed by freeze-drying, to preserve microbe-associated-molecular-patterns (MAMPS), allowing for the creation of a composition with high concentrations of inactivated archaea cells that can be incorporated into food/feed, maintaining at least 80% MAMPS signal potential.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If live Methanobrevibacter archaea are used as probiotics, then immune-modulating benefits are improved, but excessive methane production occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and utilizes only the beneficial immune-modulating components (MAMPS) of Methanobrevibacter archaea by inactivating the cells through heat treatment. This separation allows retention of immunogenic properties while eliminating the harmful methane production associated with live archaea.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies heat treatment at 60-90°C to change the physiological state of the archaea from live to inactivated. This parameter change preserves the structural integrity of MAMPS for immune modulation while destroying the metabolic capacity for methane production.
2Reliability
If high concentrations of archaea cells are incorporated in food/feed, then immune resistance is improved, but viability control becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs inactivation of archaea cells before incorporation into food/feed products. This preliminary action ensures that the cells are already inactivated and cannot proliferate or lose viability during storage and processing, providing consistent dosing and eliminating the need for complex viability control measures.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If Methanobrevibacter archaea are inactivated, then methane production is reduced, but MAMPS signal potential may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes heat treatment parameters (temperature range 60-90°C and treatment time) to achieve selective inactivation. This parameter optimization ensures sufficient cell death to stop methane production while maintaining the thermal stability of MAMPS structures necessary for immune recognition.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical/invasive cell disruption methods with gentle heat treatment. This substitution preserves the integrity of MAMPS structures that might be damaged by more aggressive inactivation methods, thereby maintaining immunogenicity while achieving cell inactivation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The resulting inactivated archaea composition significantly increases resistance to immune pathology and disease severity, reduces intestinal inflammation, and enhances immune barrier functions, effectively addressing the limitations of live archaea probiotics without excessive methane production.
Implementation Method 1
inactivating or killing said Methanobrevibacter archaebacteria cells
Implementation Method 2
inactivating or killing said Methanobrevibacter archaebacteria cells in said liquid suspension
Implementation Method 3
inactivating or killing said Methanobrevibacter archaebacteria cells using a combination of air, heat or infra-red irradiation
Implementation Method 4
freeze drying said liquid suspension to obtain an inactivated or killed Methanobrevibacter archaebacteria cell composition
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a process for preparing a composition comprising inactivated or killed Methanobrevibacter archaebacteria cells for incorporation in human food/tablets and/or animal feed/ tablets, the process comprising: a) collecting a liquid suspension of Methanobrevibacter archaebacteria cells; b) inactivating or killing said Methanobrevibacter archaebacteria cells in said liquid suspension; and c) freeze drying said liquid suspension to obtain an inactivated or killed Methanobrevibacter archaebacteria cell composition, said inactivated of killed Methanobrevibacter archaebacteria cells have preserved at least 80% of the microbe-associated-molecular-patterns (MAM PS) signal potential through the host pattern recognition receptor system. Furthermore, the invention also relates to a composition obtained according to said process, wherein the composition comprises at least 108 inactivated or killed Methanobrevibacter archaebacteria cells per gram of said composition, for use in method for improving the resistance to intestinal pathogen infection and/or for reducing intestinal inflammation in a subject.