Endominance, Inc., a leading cognitive assessment and data collection firm headquartered in Virginia, today announced the launch of a groundbreaking study to understand the role of microbiome metabolites as neurodegenerative agents. The relationship between gut microbiota and their influence on anxiety is not fully understood. Research continues to examine how anxiety affects an individual's perception of the world, cognitive biases, and behaviors. However, limitations exist in these studies, making it difficult to understand the effects of microbiota and cognitive orientation on anxiety.

Endominance's primary research goal is to better understand the effects of human gut microbiome metabolites, including 4-EPS, on anxiety behavior and the role cognitive orientation has in connection to anxiety. Lead researcher Endominance is conducting this study in conjunction with support from Dr. John Ratey, Gene1on1, and HEM Pharma, Inc. Near 2,000 adult participants nationwide are expected to participate in the study. This remote study will kick off in April 2022 and is anticipated to collect data over three years. The data analyzed will determine if a gut-derived metabolite combined with variations in cognitive orientation can be associated with anxiety levels in humans.

Dr. John J. Ratey, an Associate Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School and an internationally recognized neuropsychiatric, will supervise the research.

Under the guidance of CEO Paul Lee, Endominance will measure the unique cognitive data for each participant. Endominance will gather data using their proprietary evaluation tool, the COSEC (Cognitive Orientation & Social-Emotional Competency) Assessment, in conjunction with health screening data and standardized mental health data. HEM will provide sequencing and analysis of participants' stool samples.

HEM Pharma Inc. ("HEM"), a leading microbiome pharmabiotics (LBP: Live Biotherapeutic Product) development firm headquartered in Korea, has a proprietary patent on the "pharmaceutical meta-analysis screening (PMAS)" technology. The technology provides an in-vitro Meta-Culture System simulating the human intestinal environment and gut microbiome, providing a vast database related to human microbiome-disease interaction. Based on the PMAS technology, HEM developed a customized microbiome solution service with Amway, the World's No.1 direct selling company, and started to expand its business.

Gene1on1, a machine learning-based lifestyle healthcare company, joined this research in a support role as a consultant for gut microbiome analytics. Gene1on1 will provide consultation as a subject-matter expert in gut microbiome data analysis. Gene1on1 plans to tackle various problems that can occur in the analysis pipeline of the project, starting from data collection of gut-microbiome information to comparing complex structures of physiological attributes and associations.

"Unlike mice in a lab, anxiety in humans comes from many sources. Looking into a single factor of the gut microbiome limits the picture in understanding the complexity of human anxiety. We found evidence from previous studies that each person's unique reaction to the same stressor varies largely depending on their different perception and interpretation of the stressor," says Paul Lee, CEO at Endominance. "Identifying people's cognitive tendencies gives us a unique opportunity to identify these diverse sources of anxiety based on their cognitive and behavioral style, and enables us to connect the dots between microbiome composition and anxiety from a fresh perspective."

This is the first-ever, large-scale study to examine the effects of gut microbiota and cognitive orientation on anxiety in adults. All data gathered in this study will be used for comparative analysis with future research to help bolster ongoing mental health initiatives.

Learn more at www.endominance.com/MACO_study

or email: research@endominance.com