✔️ Equipment available within the National Network of Human Nutrition Research Centers (CRNH):
▶️ The UEN manages clinical facilities dedicated more specifically to studies on preventive human nutrition in healthy and elderly subjects. These facilities include 5 beds, 2 of which are intended for the most invasive explorations or requiring specific monitoring.
▶️ The UEN uses techniques and associated equipment for:
- Body composition by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (*DEXA) and impedance
- Measurement of resting energy expenditure by indirect calorimetry
- Measurement of exercise capacity (cardiorespiratory)
- Screening for sleep apnea syndrome by nocturnal ventilatory polygraphy
- Identification of genetic syndromes associated with obesity in connection with the Rare Diseases Reference Center (CRMR PRADORT)
- Adipose tissue cellularity
- Collection of behaviors (consumption and food behavior, physical activity, etc.)
*DEXA: non-invasive and very low irradiation medical imaging examination by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry for a precise analysis of the three components of the whole body: fat mass, lean mass and bone mineral content
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▶️ Multi-site location of equipment:
➰ Site of Avicenne Hospital and Sites of UMR1153 CRESS:
➰ Site of the University Center of Saints-Pères (Paris):
➰ Site AgroParis Tech / INRAE (Claude Bernard, Massy, Jouy):
➰ Description of the analytical device:
- Clinical investigation and precision phenotyping (food behavior, physical activity, metabolism, intestinal function and microbiota)
- Digestive explorations: use of intestinal probes, specific technique to CRNH Ile de France
- Stable isotopes: intrinsic labeling of food proteins with 15N, EH or 13C; isotopic mass spectrometry platform (1 GC-MS, 1 EA-IRMS, 2GC-c-IRMS)
- Large national and international cohorts (SUVIMAX, NUTRINET, METACARDIS … etc …
- Animal models: Rodent animal facility, behavioral and metabolic phenotyping in response to nutritional interventions.
- Econometric, psycho-sociological and neuroscience studies of food choices
- Exploration of the metagenome (MetaGenoPolis) and fecal transfer
- Isolation of new micro-organisms of human origin and develop tools for studying probiotics
- Bio-banks DNA, tissues
- Development of organoids
▶️ Other equipment accessible via the Obesity Research and Medicine Center:
➰ Facilities dedicated to outpatient clinical analyzes for the nutritional exploration of obesity:
- Measurement of resting energy expenditure by indirect calorimetry
- Body composition by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and impedance or by plethysmography*
- Screening for sleep apnea syndrome by Cidelec
- Identification of genetic syndromes in connection with the rare disease center
- Cellularity of adipose tissue
- Collection of behaviors (food, physical activity, stress, etc…)
*Plethysmography: measurement of all lung volumes including the volume of air remaining in the lungs after a maximum expiration (residual volume)
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➰ Associated platform:
The M.shark platform also belonging to the UMS BioCore Service Unit (Inserm US16 and UAR CNRS 3556), and attached to the CORSAIRE platform of Biogenouest
➰ To achieve its 5 research objectives (Perinatal nutrition and adult health / Microbiota-Intestine-Brain in Health / Lipid nutrition and chronic diseases / Understanding the onset of allergies / Nutrition-food & Law), the CRNH Ouest relies on the equipment of its M.shark mass spectrometry platform equipped with the following equipment:
- 2 x GC-EI/CI-MS (Q)
- GC-C-EI-IRMS
- 2x UPLC-ESI-MS/MS (QqQ)
- UPC²-ESI-MS/MS (QqQ)
- UPLC-ESI-HRMS (Q-TOF)
- nanoLC-ESI-HRMS (Orbitrap)
- Ultracentrifuge
➰ These state-of-the-art equipment allow for the following techniques in different matrices (Serum, plasma Tissues Urines Breast milk Stools Cells):
- Untargeted analyses (lipidomics, metabolomics and proteomics)
- Targeted quantitative analyses (lipids and apolipoproteins, amino acids and proteins, organic acids, sphingolipids allowing to approach insulin resistance, methylamines and short chain fatty acids allowing to approach the intestinal microbiota, xenobiotics…)
- Kinetic analyses in protocols involving the use of tracers enriched in stable isotopes (fluxomics proteins and metabolites)
- Structural and elemental analyses (measurement of exact masses)
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Associated platforms: Clinical Exploration Center / Mass Spectrometry Analysis Center:
▶️ Facilities accessible via the Clinical Exploration Center:
Infrastructure composed of rooms dedicated to clinical exploration, each equipped with specific equipment for nutrition research, and animated by medical and paramedical personnel trained in nutrition and clinical research, and clinical research associates:
- 3 Day test rooms
- 2 Accommodation rooms with bathroom: The rooms are equipped for indirect calorimetry measurement and impedance
- 3 examination boxes
- 1 Test room with 4 sampling armchairs
- 1 Sampling room with 1 armchair
- 2 Conditioning laboratories
- 1 Bodpod test box (body composition measurement device)
- 1 Experimental restaurant with cameras and kitchen
- 1 Gym and 2 showers
▶️ Equipment accessible via the Mass Spectrometry Analysis Center:
➰2 organic mass spectrometers coupled to gas chromatography (GC-MS, Agilent Technologies) with 3 available ionization modes:
- electron impact ionization
- positive chemical ionization
- negative chemical ionization
The 2 GC-MS are equipped with a multimode injection system including solid phase micro-extraction (SPME, Gerstel & CTC Analytics), a GC-MS also has a thermo-desorption interface (Markes).
➰ 2 isotopic mass spectrometers (IRMS, Delta V Advantage, Thermo Scientific and Isoprime, Isoprime Ltd) with different couplings:
- GC-Combustion
- GC-pyrolysis
- Thermal Conversion Elemental Analysis
- Gasbench Equilibration & Breath tests
✔️ Equipment available within MétaGénoPolis:
▶️ Laboratory equipment for the collection, storage and management of microbiomes
▶️ Quantitative metagenomic tools for whole genome sequencing:
- Integrated pipeline for high-throughput sequencing and high-resolution metagenomic profiles
- Bioinformatics tools for the determination of core genes and accessory genes of microbial species
▶️ Functional metagenomic tools for high-throughput screening:
- Construction of metagenomic libraries and replication of libraries
- Automated culture of bacterial clones, followed by lysis and filtration
- Development of new screening tools (reporter gene technology)
- High-throughput screening on human epithelial cells (luminescence (HTS), fluorescence (HCS), absorbance)
- Analysis by flow cytometry and cell sorting
