The “AMBROSIA” project: a new approach for the prevention of undernutrition in cardiovascular diseases targeting the microbiota-inflammation-brain axis – Targeting undernutrition through the microbiota-inflammation-brain axis

The European project “AMBROSIA” conducted at the University of Florence, fits with the areas of food and health, tackling one of major social challenges in current healthcare: the undernutrition in “older” population, focused on patients with Heart Failure (HF) and Atrial Fibrillation (AF). Undernutrition is one key factors leading through inflammation, to loss of function, disability, frailty and, ultimately, to death. A vicious cycle “of inflammation and cachexia” determines a progressive cognitive decline and lean body mass regression. Since the inflammation is closely related with the health status of intestinal microbiota, shaping its composition with a probiotic-based food, namely the AMBROSIA chocolate bar, specifically enriched with key nutrients could be an efficacious and safe approach to break this cycle improving the cognitive functioning and skeletal muscle mass. A prospective interventional clinical study will be performed at the University of Florence to asses the bar efficacy on undernutrition prevention. Statistical and Machine Learning methods will be developed for the identification of features from the “Microbiota-Inflammation-Brain axis” used as predictive undernutrition biomarkers.