The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has debuted its microbiome reference material, which will allow scientists to accurately measure the gut microbiome.
The organisation has released this human stool-based reference material to assist the efforts of microbiome researchers by providing a "precisely measured, scientifically analysed and richly characterised human faecal standard," according to Scott Jackson, a NIST molecular geneticist.
NIST's Human Gut Microbiome RM contains eight frozen vials of human faeces suspended in an aqueous solution, as well as extensive data identifying key microbes and biomolecules associated with the samples.
By utilising these reference samples, researchers within the nutraceutical space can accurately evaluate the efficacy of their biotic formulations in terms of their impact on the gut microbiome.
Tackling reproducibility issues
When discussing the potential of the microbiome in disease prevention, Jackson stated: “We are at the beginning of a new era of live microbial therapies; this isn’t just wishful thinking. It’s already happening.”
However, the nutraceutical industry has been using pre, pro and postbiotics to modulate the gut microbiome and support overall wellness for decades.
As the gut microbiome's role in overall health becomes increasingly more apparent and consumers look for those in the nutraceutical industry could highly benefit from exploring the efficacy of their biotic solutions.
However, reproducibility is currently a major hurdle in gut microbiome research, notes Jackson: "If you give two different laboratories the same stool sample for analysis, you’ll likely get strikingly different results."
By standardising the research process, companies can ensure the "accuracy, consistency, comparability and reproducibility of results" in the nutraceutical field.
Through the development of the Human Gut Microbome RM, researchers at NIST identified more than 150 metabolites and microbial species.
They also collected samples from both vegetarian and omnivorous individuals, offering a more comprehensive overview of the 'average' human gut microbiome.
"By releasing this reference material, we take a step closer to a time when we can all agree on exactly what we're talking about when discussing the human gut microbiome," Jackson concluded.