Rene van den Wijngaard, Author at Gut Microbiota for Health

About Rene van den Wijngaard

Dr van den Wijngaard undertook his PhD-training at the Academic Medical Center/University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands). His thesis, entitled "New insight in vitiligo: immunopathology", focused on autoimmune destruction of melanocytes in vitiligonous skin. After obtaining his PhD he then changed to gut-oriented research by starting as a post-doc at the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in the same institute. At present, he is a scientific staff member in this department and carries out his research activities at the Tytgat Institute for Liver and Intestinal Research. His focus is on the role of mast cells and gut fungi/yeast in abdominal pain complaints of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Keystone Bacteroides strain restitution leads to microbiome recovery and reduced risk of colitis in genetically susceptible mice

29 Mar 2022

by Rene van den Wijngaard

Alterations in the gut microbiome in early life have been associated with increased risk of inflammatory bowel diseases. New findings in mice have found a keystone Bacteroides strain that reduces colitis risk when engrafted during early life in a gut microbiome disrupted by antibiotics.

2021 at a glance: hotspots in gut microbiome research and predictions for the field’s future development

10 Jan 2022

by GMFH Editing Team, Rene van den Wijngaard

Despite the global focus on COVID-19, 2021 was also a productive year in gut microbiome research. In this “2021 Year at a glance” report, discover emerging trends in postbiotics, the role of beneficial microbes in dietary guidelines, diet-related tools for shaping the gut microbiome and the potential role of newly identified probiotics in obesity and functional dyspepsia.

Spore-forming probiotic blend shows potential for managing functional dyspepsia in adults

11 Oct 2021

by Rene van den Wijngaard

Long-term treatment of functional dyspepsia with proton-pump inhibitors can alter the gut microbiome. A new pilot randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial suggests the potential of spore-forming probiotics in patients with functional dyspepsia.

Does functional abdominal pain have an organic explanation? Gut-localized immune responses offer new clues for patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders

8 Mar 2021

by Rene van den Wijngaard

Abdominal pain affects a huge amount of people nowadays, though its underlying mechanisms are not always understood. New findings in mice and humans reveal that localized immune responses against harmless foods might be involved in persistent “functional” abdominal pain.

The inflammatory potential of diet is tied to Crohn’s disease risk but not to ulcerative colitis, suggests a new observational study

2 Nov 2020

by Rene van den Wijngaard

Despite the fact that current guidelines for managing inflammatory bowel diseases do not devote attention to diet as a central element of treatment, there is an increasing amount of evidence that supports the role of diet in patients with IBD. A new nationwide cohort study shows the association between the level of inflammatory potential in diet and risk of Crohn’s disease.

Challenges and next steps in using human fecal microbiota transfer to germ-free mice models as a means of translating microbiome science to therapeutic medicine

2 Jul 2020

by Rene van den Wijngaard

Human microbiota-associated mice studies are considered a cornerstone model in microbiome research and may contribute to microbiome-based therapies moving quickly towards clinical use. A new perspective from Jens Walter and colleagues explores the model’s limitations and makes suggestions for improving experimental rigor when testing for causality in microbiome research.