Dr. Krista Anne Power

Biography

Dr. Krista Poweris an Associate professor in the School of Nutrition Sciences at the University of Ottawa, and an Adjunct professor at the Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, and the Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto. Dr. Power received a PhD from the Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto (2007), and was an NSERC PDF at the University of Turku, Finland and at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden (2006-2008) where she researched the role of phytoestrogens and phytoestrogen-rich foods (e.g. flaxseed, soy) on estrogen signaling in human health and disease, utilizing an array of cellular and in vivo models. Dr. Power was a Research Scientist with Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (2008-2017), where she initiated and led a diet a gut health research team to demonstrate the importance of dietary components in modulation of the intestinal microbiota and intestinal barrier integrity and function, and its role in the prevention and treatment of chronic disease.

Background for Research Interests

Numerous chronic diseases are associated with intestinal health dysfunction including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD; Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis), colon cancer, as well as extra-intestinal diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and neurological disorders. Maintaining a homeostatic intestinal microenvironment (microbiota, epithelial and immunological barriers) is mandatory for this complex organ to evade and mount protective immune responses to continuous exposures to damaging environmental and luminal antigens and pathogens, and effectively promote timely epithelial repair processes to maintain mucosal barrier integrity. Alterations in the microenvironment components can drive microbial dysbiosis, impair barrier integrity, and initiate intestinal and systemic inflammation. Dr. Power’s research focuses on determining the role of foods and food components in the modulation of intestinal health and disease. In particular, she determines the effects of foods which are rich in intestinal health-modulating bioactives (e.g. fermentable fibers and phenolics) on the intestinal microenvironment including the microbiota community structure (16S rRNA gene sequencing) and activity (e.g. production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and phenolic metabolites), as well as the integrity and function of the intestinal mucosal barrier (e.g. permeability, regulation of tight junction protein complex, epithelial cell proliferation and apoptosis, mucus layer integrity, immune cell infiltration, and endotoxemia) in mice. She utilizes in vivo preclinical mouse models of intestinal health and disease including the dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced acute and chronic colitis model of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), as well as the high fat diet-induced mouse model of obesity to investigate how dietary components can modulate the intestinal microenvironment and impact the development and severity of these gut-associated chronic inflammatory diseases.

Current Research Projects

Dietary, microbial, and host-derived mechanisms involved in modulating the integrity and function of the colonic microenvironment: The role of dietary flaxseed and its components on intestinal health and disease

This is an NSERC-funded project in which we are investigating the role of dietary flaxseed and its purified components (fibre, protein, oil, lignans) on the microbiome and intestinal barrier integrity and function. We are utilizing in vivo mouse models of intestinal health and inflammation, ex vivo permeability and transport in healthy and diseased intestinal tissues, and in vitro cell culture systems to study the potential beneficial and adverse effects of flaxseed-derived bioactives on intestinal health.

Applying Genomic Ideotype Breeding to Increase Bean Productivity, Healthfulness and Sustainability: The role of common beans and bean-bioactives on intestinal health and metabolic dysfunction

This is an Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence funded project in which we are investigating the role of different common bean varieties on intestinal health and obesity-associated inflammation and metabolic dysfunctions in mice. We are utilizing high fat diet-induced obesity mouse models to assess the preventative and therapeutic potential of cooked common beans and their bioactives through modulation of the intestinal microenvironment (microbiome and intestinal barrier integrity and function), adipose tissue dysfunction and inflammation, hormone dysregulation, and hepatic steatosis.

All About Apples: Obesity-related health benefits and communication strategies to increase apple knowledge, purchase and consumption in Ontario

This is an OMFRA funded project in collaboration with the University of Guelph in which the effects of daily consumption of Ontario apple varieties on obesity-associated metabolic dysfunction and inflammation and intestinal health in human subjects are being assessed.

We are currently recruiting undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to join our research team. Those interested are invited to send their CV and a statement of research interests and alignment with the above listed projects to Dr. Krista Power

Select Publications

• Määttänen P, Lurz E, Botts SR, Wu RY, Yeung CW, Li B, Abiff S, Johnson-Henry KC, Lepp D, Power KA, Pierro A, Surette ME, Sherman PM. (2018) Ground flaxseed reverses protection of a reduced fat diet against Citrobacter rodentium-induced colitis. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2018 Oct; 315(5): G788-G798
• Monk JM*, Wu W, Hutchinson AL*, Pauls KP, Robinson LE, Power KA. (2018). Navy and black bean supplementation attenuates colitis-associated inflammation and colonic epithelial damage. J Nutr Biochem. 2018 Jun;56:215-223
• Monk JM*, Wu W*, McGillis LH*, Wellings HR*, Hutchinson AL*, Liddle DM*, Graf D*, Robinson LE, Power KA. (2018). Chickpea supplementation prior to colitis onset improves disease symptoms in dextran sodium sulfate-treated C57Bl/6 male mice. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2018 Mar 9. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2017-0689.
• Liddle DM*, Hutchinson AL*, Wellings HR*, Power KA, Robinson LE, Monk JM*. (2017). Integrated Immunomodulatory Mechanisms through which Long-Chain n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Attenuate Obese Adipose Tissue Dysfunction. Nutrients. Nov 27;9(12). pii: E1289.
• Monk JM*, Lepp D, Wu W, Pauls KP, Robinson LE, Power KA. (2017). Navy and black bean supplementation primes the colonic mucosal microenvironment to improve gut health. Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, 49, 89-100.
• Monk JM*, Lepp D, Wu W, Graf D*, McGillis LH*, Hussain A*, Carey C, Robinson LE, Liu R, Rong Tsao, Brummer Y, Tosh SM, Power KA. (2017). Chickpea-supplemented diet alters the gut microbiome and enhances gut barrier integrity in C57Bl/6 male mice. Journal of Functional Foods, 38, 663-674. doi:.org/10.1016/j.jff.2017.02.002.
• Power KA, Lepp D, Zarepoor L*, Monk JM*, Wu W, Tsao R, Liu R. (2016). Dietary flaxseed modulates the colonic microenvironment in healthy C57Bl/6 male mice which may alter susceptibility to gut-associated diseases. The Journal of nutritional biochemistry, 28, 61-69.
• Monk JM*, Liddle DM*, Cohen DJA*, Tsang DH*, Hillyer LM, Abdelmagid SA*, Nakamura MT, Power KA, Ma DML, Robinson LE. (2016). The delta 6 desaturase knock out mouse reveals that immunomodulatory effects of essential n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids are both independent of and dependent upon conversion. The Journal of nutritional biochemistry, 32, 29-38.
• Monk JM*, Lepp D, Zhang CP*, Wu W, Zarepoor L*, Lu JT*, Pauls KP, Tsao R, Wood GA, Robinson LE, Power KA. (2016). Diets enriched with cranberry beans alter the microbiota and mitigate colitis severity and associated inflammation. J Nutr Biochem, 28, 129-39.
• De Boer AA*, Monk JM*, Liddle DM*, Hutchinson AL*, Power KA, Ma DWL, Robinson LE. (2016). Fish-oil-derived n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids reduce NLRP3 inflammasome activity and obesity-related inflammatory cross-talk between adipocytes and CD11b(+) macrophages. The Journal of nutritional biochemistry, 34, 61-72.
• Power KA, Lu JT*, Monk JM*, Lepp D, Wu W, Zhang C*, Liu R, Tsao R, Robinson LE, Wood, GA, Wolyn D. (2016). Purified rutin and rutin-rich asparagus attenuates disease severity and tissue damage following dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis. Molecular nutrition & food research, 60(11), 2396-2412.
• Monk JM*, Zhang CP*, Wu W, Zarepoor L*, Lu JT*, Liu R, Pauls KP, Wood GA, Tsao R, Robinson LE, Power KA. (2015). White and dark kidney beans reduce colonic mucosal damage and inflammation in response to dextran sodium sulfate. The Journal of nutritional biochemistry, 26(7), 752-60.
• Monk JM*, Liddle DM*, Brown MJ*, Zarepoor L*, Boer AA*, Ma DWL, Power KA, Robinson LE. (2015). Anti-inflammatory and anti-chemotactic effects of dietary flaxseed oil on CD8+ T cell/adipocyte-mediated cross-talk. Molecular nutrition & food research, 60, 621-30.
• De Boer AA*, Monk JM*, Liddle DM*, Power KA, Ma DWL, Robinson LE. (2015). Fish oil-derived long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids reduce expression of M1-associated macrophage markers in an ex vivo adipose tissue culture model, in part through adiponectin. Frontiers in nutrition, 2, 31-46.
• Villeneuve S, Power KA, Guévremont E, Mondor M, Tsao R, Wanasundara J, Zarepoor, L*, Mercier S*. (2015). Effect of a Short-Time Germination Process on the Nutrient Composition, Microbial Counts and Bread-Making Potential of Whole Flaxseed. Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, 39(6), 1574-1586.
• Monk JM*, Liddle DM*, Brown MJ*, Zarepoor L*, De Boer AA*, Ma DWL*, Power KA, Robinson LE. (2015). Anti-inflammatory and anti-chemotactic effects of dietary flaxseed oil on CD8(+) T cell/adipocyte-mediated cross-talk. Molecular nutrition & food research, 60(3), 621-30.
• Monk JM*, Liddle DM*, De Boer AA*, Brown MJ, Power KA, Ma DWl, Robinson LE. (2015). Fish-oil-derived n-3 PUFAs reduce inflammatory and chemotactic adipokine-mediated cross-talk between co-cultured murine splenic CD8+ T cells and adipocytes. The Journal of nutrition, 145(4), 829-38.
• Monk JM*, Turk H*, Liddle DM*, De Boer AA*, Power KA, Ma DWL, Robinson LE. (2014). n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and mechanisms to mitigate inflammatory paracrine signaling in obesity-associated breast cancer. Nutrients, 6(11), 4760-93.
• Mercier S*, Villeneuve S, Moresoli C, Mondor M, Marcos B, Power KA. (2014). Flaxseed-Enriched Cereal-Based Products: A Review of the Impact of Processing Conditions. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 13(4), 400-412.
• Zhang C*, Monk JM*, Lu JT*, Zarepoor L*, Wu W, Liu R, Pauls KP, Wood GA, Robinson LE, Tsao R, Power KA. (2014). Cooked navy and black bean diets improve biomarkers of colon health and reduce inflammation during colitis. The British journal of nutrition, 111(9), 1549-63.
• Zarepoor L*, Lu JT*, Zhang C*, Wu, Lepp D, Robinson LE, Wanasundara J, Cui S, Villeneuve S, Fofana B, Tsao R, Wood GA, Power KA. (2014). Dietary flaxseed intake exacerbates acute colonic mucosal injury and inflammation induced by dextran sodium sulfate. American journal of physiology. Gastrointestinal and liver physiology, 306(12), G1042-55.