Mathias Scharf

About Mathias Scharf

Mathias Tabat studied his bachelor’s of Food- and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Bonn and continued at the University of Hohenheim with his master’s in Molecular Nutritional Sciences (Msc). There, he experienced a broad and interdisciplinary field with a master’s that focussed on the interface between biochemistry, physiology and molecular medicine, aiming at foundational research applications in nutritional sciences. Following this route towards the medical field, he started his PhD in the Nutrition-Gut-Brain Interactions research centre at Örebro University in 2016.

Within the NGBI, Mathias’ work involves clinical and mechanistic studies of butyrate in humans. He aims to obtain an overview of butyrate’s mode of action in the human colon and its possible effects at distal places within the gut-brain axis. Butyrate has recently gained attention as an important microbial compound in human colon health. Several diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), have been linked with a loss of butyrate in the colon, resulting in the hypothesis that butyrate may be important for disease resistance. It is produced by the microbial fermentation of undigested carbohydrates (fibres) in the colon and is an important energy source for colon cells. Butyrate is also thought to affect a wide variety of processes in the human colon including improving colonic barrier function and anti-oxidant capacity, decreasing inflammation and having anti-carcinogenic potential.