A bread made with probiotic yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae UFMG A-905 has been created by Brazilian researchers.
This bread has been shown to prevent asthma symptoms in mice, and the bread has been patented to do so. The bread demonstrated reduced airway inflammation and asthma biomarkers in test subjects. The researchers hope that the bread can be utilized as a widely available natural food product to help manage asthma, although further trials with humans are needed.
Researchers in Brazil have developed a new bread formulation that could potentially prevent asthma, a breathing disorder that results in roughly 350,000 hospital visits annually in the SUS.
A Brazilian patent application (BR1020210266455) for a formula that includes probiotic brewer's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae UFMG A-905 has been published in the journal Current Developments in Nutrition, and has been shown to decrease asthma symptoms in mice. Additional trials with human volunteers are required.
According to the DATASUS database, asthma is a disease that is becoming increasingly common in Brazil, affecting around 20 million people each year. It is characterized by airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness, and is thought to be caused by various factors such as environmental irritants, diet, and gut microbiomes.
Probiotics can be beneficial for asthmatic patients because of their association with the gut microbiota. These beneficial bacteria can be typically offered individually or when combined with dairy products like milk, yogurt, or kefir, but a substitute may be considered, which is appropriate for patients who have lactose intolerance or milk protein allergy.
The University of So Paulo (USP) researchers, funded by FAPESP, successfully used S. cerevisiae UFMG A-905 in naturally fermented bread for the first time in a study co-authored by researchers from UNICOM and FUGMAP.
Ana Paula Carvalho is responsible for the creation of dough enriched with microcapsules of S. cerevisiae UFMG A-905 (bottom right).
The researchers attempted to study the bread's ability by examining three types. The first was fermented with commercial yeast, the second was infused with S. cerevisiae UFMG A-905, and the third was prepared with S. cerevisiae UFMG A-905 and sealed microcapsules containing live S. cerevisiae UFMG A-905.
Marcos de Carvalho Borges, professor in the Department of Clinical Medicine at Ribeiro Preto Medical School (FMRP-USP), explained that microcapsules are responsible for protecting bioactive and probiotic compounds and enhancing probiotic viability, activity, and bioavailability by adding encapsulated live yeast.
After consuming bread for 27 days, mice with asthma exhibited reduced airway inflammation and increased asthma biomarker levels.
The presence of microencapsulated yeast in bread-fed mice demonstrated reduced levels of IL17A, a biomarker of asthma, and increased airway responsiveness to the substance. The findings demonstrate that live S. cerevisiae UFMG A-905 can help prevent asthma.
Both bread varieties that were fermented with S. cerevisiae UFMG A-905 prevented the development of asthma in mice, as indicated by Borges.
The scientists admit to the study's drawbacks, such as not incorporating bread fermented with commercial yeast and not assessing the survival of S. cerevisiae UFMG A-905 microcapsules after baking, but they can now move on to develop a protocol for a clinical trial to examine the effects of the yeast on human beings.
The potential of the product is immense, according to Borges. Bread is a natural food that is consumed by almost everyone, including children. It is easily distributed and has a long shelf life.
The publication "A Functional Bread Fermented with Saccharomyces cerevisiae UFMG A-905 Prevents Allergic Asthma in Mice" was presented in Current Developments in Nutrition, published in the 21st century. DOI: 10.1016/j.cdnut.2024.02142.
The Ministry of Education's Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) provided financial support for the study.