Patent ID: 9271924
Filing Date: 2016-03-01
CPC Classification: A61K,A61Q,C12Q,G01N

Claim Text:
1. A method of identifying a test agent as a prebiotic agent using a high throughput, tiered screening assay, the method comprising: providing a first culture that includes the test agent, a quantity of a human skin commensal microorganism and a minimal carbon medium; determining a metabolite level of the first culture; comparing the metabolite level of the first culture to a first control value, wherein the first control value is a metabolite level in a culture of the human skin commensal microorganism of the first culture that is grown without the test agent, and wherein the metabolite level correlates with the amount of growth of the human skin commensal microorganism; performing a plate count assay using the first culture only when the metabolite level of the first culture is greater than the metabolite level of the first control value; comparing the number of colonies present in the plate count assay from the first culture to a second control value, wherein the second control value represents a number of colonies produced from a plate count assay using a culture of the human skin commensal microorganism of the first culture that is grown without the test agent; and identifying the test agent as a prebiotic agent when the test agent increases the metabolite level relative to the first control value and the number of colonies produced from the plate count assay relative to the second control value.