Digestive Environment Simulation (Digest-IV)

With an expertise of more than 20 years in the field of in vitro digestion and a knowledge of the digestive environment (entry door of any ingested or orally administered product), the staff of the Digestive Environment Simulation platform (Digest-IV) offers to the academic or industrial scientific community, services that are mainly based on the use of dynamic systems that simulate the main gastrointestinal functions of man or the monogastric animal. These systems are particularly pertinent for the screening and the development of new products, formulations or concepts in the fields of food and feed industries, nutrition, pharmacy, microbiology, toxicology, biotechnologies and health in general.
Free of ethical constraints inherent to human and animal experimentation, these tools allow, in various operating conditions, the study of many products and their interactions with the digestive environment (the microbiota in particular).

Studies of products (behaviour and/or impact) in various simulated digestive environments.
Upper tract (stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum):

• In physiological conditions: impact of the food matrix, of age, of physicochemical parameters…
• In pathological conditions: secretory disorder, bowel function disorder…

Large intestine (mono or tri-stage colon):

• In physiological conditions: impact of age, microbiota enterotype…
• In pathological conditions and dysbiosis: (obesity simulation, IBS…).

Custom design and joint studies

• Development of specific environments and/or particular conditions.
• Support of research and development projects.

• Gastro-intestinal systems: two in vitro systems simulating the upper digestive tract : stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum including one in L3 lab.
• Colonic systems: a dozen of fermenters simulating the colon « one-stage » and « tri-stage » (ascending-transversal-descending).
• Dissolution systems (USP1 to 4).
• Ex vivo organs (rat intestines).
• Cell culture (Caco-2, HT 29).
• Full apparatus for microbiology aerobic & anaerobic, cultural & molecular (PSM, anaerobic chamber, incubators, autoclaves, PCR, qPCR…).
• Analytical material: HPLC (DAD, refractometers), microCG (TCD), electrophoresis.

• Determination of the survival rate of probiotics during digestion: impact of the food matrix and of the galenic form.
• Kinetic release of an active substance depending on its formulation.
• Study of the chyme’s viscosity during the digestion of fibre enriched biscuits.
• Impact of the thermal treatment on the digestibility of animal proteins in adult and elderly person.
• Impact of a food supplement of plant origin on the composition and activity of the colonic microbiota and its resilience.

Close relationship with the Galbiopharm platform and the "Unité d'Exploration en nutrition" of the CRNH Auvergne..