The Academy of Finland has granted funding worth 367 729 euro for the research project: ´Exploring the Physiological and Toxicological Functions of the AH Receptor: Involvement in Avoidance of Novel Food Items, Regulation of Circadian Rhytms, and Transgenerational Effects´. The project leader is professor Raimo Pohjanvirta from the Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health.

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a protein that is best-known as the mediator of the toxic effects of the environmental contaminants dioxins and PAH compounds. In recent years, it has been found out that the AHR plays important roles in normal physiological processes including liver development, heart function and immunological responses (e.g. autoimmunity). In the present set of studies, the physiological and toxicological functions of the AHR will be further explored. The focus will be on the following three phenomena:

1.  Possible causal relationship between hepatic induction of  drug-metabolizing enzymes and a behavioral change, avoidance of novel food items
2. Involvement of the AHR in regulation of circadian rhythms
3. Whether or not the harmful impacts caused by activated AHR can be transmitted to future generations.

The findings of these studies can be expected to significantly further our understanding of this intriguing protein which can be both beneficial and deleterious.

The main collaborator is Dr. Paul Boutros’s research group in the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research, Toronto, Kanada.

>> The first book on the AH receptor: The AH Receptor in Biology and Toxicology

The Academy of Finland granted funding 326 344 € for the research project ´Molecular epidemiology and environmental reservoirs for β-lactamase- and carbapenemase producing Enterobacteriaceae in Finland.´

The funding is for three years and the project leader is DVM, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher Annamari Heikinheimo from the Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health.

Antibiotic resistance is rapidly spreading worldwide, and one of great concerns is the rapid growth of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) and carbapenemase resistance in Enterobacteriaceae family, especially in Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli. They cause different infections such as urinary tract infection and soft tissue infections, and resist wide range of antibiotics. These bacteria spread now rapidly in Finnish hospitals and also in community.

Due to global trade and travel, antibiotic resistant bacteria spread rapidly to distant countries and continents by human travelers, animal reservoirs, and foods. Food chain may serve as a transmission route for these infections. Recently found panresistant NDM-1 bacteria possess a worrisome problem if entering the food chain. The transmission routes of ESBL bacteria to humans via foods and food producing animals is being elucidated in this project.

This research project is conducted in collaboration with professor Martti Vaara’s research group from Helsinki Univeristy Hospital (HUSLAB) and professor Frank Aarestrup’s research group from Danish Technical University (DTU). The laboratory in Copenhagen serves as WHO World Health Organization’s collaboration centre and European Union’s reference laboratory for antibiotic resistance in animals and foods.