Assay
AssigneeUniversity of Leicester
InventorClett Ben Erridge
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention provides assays and apparatuses for assessing the ability of certain orally-ingestible samples, such as saliva or foodstuffs to cause inflammation, and thus the health risk such samples can cause upon ingestion by a subject. The invention also provides an assay to monitor an individual's diet with regards to inflammation risk. The invention also extends to methods of preventing inflammatory diseases.
Claims39
An assay for determining the risk of an orally-ingestible biological sample for causing inflammation, the assay comprising analysing the concentration of a Toll-like receptor (TLR) stimulant or a nucleotide-binding oligomerisation domain (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) stimulant in an orally-ingestible biological sample and comparing this concentration with a reference concentration of TLR-stimulant or NLR-stimulant known to represent an inflammation risk, wherein an increased concentration of TLR-stimulant or NLR-stimulant in the sample compared to the reference concentration indicates that the sample causes inflammation.
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An apparatus for determining the risk of an orally-ingestible biological sample for causing inflammation, the apparatus comprising:
- (i) means for determining the concentration of a Toll-like receptor (TLR) stimulant or a nucleotide-binding oligomerisation domain (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) stimulant in an orally-ingestible biological sample;
- and
- (ii) a reference corresponding to the concentration of a TLR-stimulant or NLR-stimulant known to represent an inflammation risk,
- wherein the apparatus is used to identify an increased concentration of a TLR-stimulant or a NLR-stimulant in the sample, thereby suggesting that the sample causes inflammation.
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A method of monitoring a subject's diet for inflammation risk, the method comprising:
- analysing the concentration of a Toll-like receptor (TLR) stimulant or a nucleotide-binding oligomerisation domain (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) stimulant in at least one test foodstuff of a subject's meal, and comparing this concentration with a reference concentration of TLR-stimulant or NLR-stimulant known to represent an inflammation risk, wherein an increased concentration of TLR-stimulant or NLR-stimulant in the test foodstuff indicates that the foodstuff, and thus diet, causes inflammation.
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A method of preventing a subject from developing inflammation, the method comprising:
- (i) determining the concentration of a Toll-like receptor (TLR) stimulant or a nucleotide-binding oligomerisation domain (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) stimulant in at least one foodstuff of a subject's meal;
- (ii) comparing this concentration with a reference concentration of a TLR-stimulant or NLR-stimulant known to represent an inflammation risk, wherein an increased concentration of TLR-stimulant or NLR-stimulant in the sample from the test foodstuff indicates that the foodstuff causes inflammation;
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- (iii) administering an anti-inflammatory agent to the subject when the concentration of TLR-stimulant or NLR-stimulant determined in step (i) is higher than the reference concentration.
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A method for determining, in a foodstuff, the identity of a PAMP which causes inflammation, the method comprising:
- (i) determining the concentration of a PAMP in a sample from a test foodstuff;
- (ii) comparing this concentration with a reference concentration of the PAMP known to represent an inflammation risk, wherein an increased concentration of PAMP in the sample from the test foodstuff compared to the reference concentration indicates that the foodstuff causes inflammation;
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- (iii) determining which Toll-like receptor (TLR) TLR and/or TLR-signalling pathway or nucleotide-binding oligomerisation domain (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) and/or NLR-signalling pathway has been activated when the concentration of PAMP determined in step (i) is higher than the reference concentration, wherein the activated TLR and/or TLR-signalling pathway or NLR and/or NLR-signalling pathway indicates the identity of the PAMP.
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A method of reducing or pre-empting the risk of inflammation caused by a foodstuff at risk of being contaminated by a pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) or a microbe-associated molecular pattern (MAMP), the method comprising adding a Toll-like receptor (TLR)-signalling inhibitor to the foodstuff
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.