Bimuno, a novel mixture of galacto-oligosaccharides, has previously been hailed as a 'second generation' prebiotic, since it not only boosts probiotic bacteria at a group level, but also offers additional functionality by inhibiting the adhesion of 'bad' bacteria to the gut wall.
Bimuno is already a well-established retail supplement brand in the UK that is doing well, said Geoff Collins, Clasado’s head of marketing.
The company, which exhibited at the recent IFT Expo in Chicago, is also looking to expand further in the US market, and is already available in several supplement products, he said.
“It’s would be fair to say we aren’t well known in the US at present, either within the industry or among manufacturers, but our aim is to establish Bimuno as a well-recognized and sought after ingredient brand,” Collins told NutraIngredients-USA. “We have a unique proprietary product that confers a wide range of clinically proven health benefits making it an attractive value-adding ingredient.
“Bimuno is GRAS – FDA letters of non-objection received to the notices filed for conventional food use as well as infant formula use – and we are currently offering it as an ingredient for supplements, foods, beverages and infant formula,” he added.
Science
Clasado has invested heavily in building the science around Bimuno dating back to 2000, with the most recent clinical trial to be published finding that Bimuno supplementation could reduce the severity of exercise-induced asthma by 40%. The study was conducted at Nottingham Trent University in England, and findings are published in the British Journal of Nutrition (Williams et al. 2016, doi: 10.1017/S0007114516002762).
The study is reportedly the first human study to demonstrate the potential for a prebiotic to be used as an adjunct therapy in exercise induced asthma, and airway inflammation.
Dr Neil Williams, a lecturer in exercise physiology and nutrition at Nottingham Trent University’s School of Science and Technology and lead researcher on the study, said: “We are only just starting to understand the role the gut microbiome plays in health and disease – and it is becoming increasingly recognized that microbes living in the gut can have a substantial influence on immune function and allergies which is likely to be important in airway disease. B-GOS significantly increases the growth and activity of good gut bacteria. This in turn may reduce the inflammatory response of the airways in asthma patients to exercise.
“Importantly, the level of improvement in lung function that appears after administration of B-GOS is perceivable by the patient and therefore potentially clinically relevant.”
Results of the double blind crossover study indicated that 5.5 grams per day of the Bimuno-galactooligosaccharide (B-GOS) for 3 weeks were associated with significant reductions in the severity of exercise-induced asthma.
The researchers also reported that B-GOS was associated with a suppression in resting blood markers of airway inflammation (CCL17, and CRP) and completely abolished the increase in cytokine TNF-alpha, which usually occurs with airway constriction following exercise.
Graham Waters, CEO, Clasado, said: “The finding that B-GOS can reduce exercise induced bronchoconstriction will be of great interest to clinicians and asthma sufferers alike. Although this is early stage work, it raises the prospect that our unique carbohydrate complex could be used as an adjunct to existing asthma therapy. This could potentially benefit millions of sufferers.”