Gut health: an intersection of food, environment, animal production and global health
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Project Supervisor
Professor John B Furness
Project Details
Gut health can be defined as a condition in which mucosal function is normal and assimilation of nutrients is not compromised.
When the gut is stressed, there are major effects on the mucosa. This manifests as a loss of structural integrity, increased mucosal permeability, malabsorption of nutrients, and mucosal inflammation. In addition to the mucosa, enteric neurons are susceptible to damage when there is stress, particularly oxidative stress, to the intestine. We have developed a number of models for studying enteric neuropathies associated with inflammation, ischemia/ reperfusion injury, high fat diets (Rivera et al. 2014) and environmental heat (Maseko et al 2014, Liu et al 2016).
In this study we will use heat stress and sudden weaning as acute stressors to the intestine, or a high fat diet regime, which has the hallmarks of accelerated ageing, and may induce lipotoxic effects. We have also discovered mucosal leakiness in Parkinson’s disease models.
Researchers
Professor John Furness, Project Leader/Supervisor
Dr Shanti Diwakarla
Collaborators
Dr Jeremy Cotttell, Agricultural Science
Research Opportunities
This research project is available to PhD, Masters by Research, Honours, Master of Biomedical Science, Post Doctor Research students to join as part of their thesis.
Please contact the Research Group Leader to discuss your options.
Research Publications
Rivera LR, Leung C, Pustovit RV, Hunne B, Andrikopoulos S, Herath C, Testro A, Angus PW & Furness JB. Damage to enteric neurons occurs in mice that develop fatty liver disease but not diabetes in response to a high-fat diet. Neurogastroenterol Motil 26, 1188-1199 (2014)
Maseko T, Dunshea FR, Howell K, Cho H-J, Rivera LR, Furness JB & Ng K. Selenium-enriched Agaricus bisporus mushroom protects against increases in gut permeability ex vivo and up-regulates glutathione peroxidase 1 and 2 in hyperthermal-induced oxidative stress in rats. Nutrients 6, 2478-2492 (2014)
Liu, F, Cottrell, JJ, Furness, JB, Rivera, LR, Kelly, FW, Wijesiriwardana, U, Pustovit, RV, Fothergill, LJ, Bravo, DM, Celi, P, Leury, LJ, Gabler, NK, Dunshea, FR: Selenium and Vitamin E together improve intestinal epithelial barrier function and alleviate oxidative stress in heat stressed pigs. Exp. Physiol. 101, 801-810 (2016)