Dr Athanasios Koutsos

  • Lecturer in Human Nutrition (Medicine)

Biography

Dr Athanasios Koutsos joined the School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing at the University of Glasgow in October 2021.

He holds a 5-year university degree in Food Science (2008) from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and an MSc in Nutrition (2011) from the University of Reading, UK, funded by the prestigious Scholarship of the Greek State Foundation (IKY).

In 2017, he obtained his PhD from the University of Reading, UK, in collaboration with Fondazione Edmund Mach, Trentino, Italy, on a project exploring the effects of apple fibre and polyphenols on cardiovascular disease risk factors and gut microbiota. He then worked for four years as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the University of Reading on a BBSRC-funded project exploring the metabolic and gut-related mechanisms that underlie inter-individual variation in serum LDL-cholesterol in response to dietary saturated fatty acids.

Research interests

Dr Koutsos’s research focuses on the interplay between gut microbiota, health and disease. He investigates how diet, specific foods, as well as food components affect the composition and activity of gut microbiota to potentially manage or mitigate a spectrum of conditions, including cardiovascular, inflammatory, and metabolic diseases. To explore the complex interactions between diet, gut microbiota and health, he uses in vitro models of the human gut and dietary human intervention studies.

For a complete list of publications prior to 2022, please refer to his ORCID profile.

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2025 | 2024 | 2022 | 2020 | 2019 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012
Number of items: 20.

2025

Mckirdy, Shona, Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Nichols, Ben, Anderson, Maris, Dhami, Sumet, Chowdhury, Chandrama Roy, Bergo, Anna Mascellani, Havlik, Jaroslav ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1900-0951 and Gerasimidis, Konstantinos ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9432-2200 (2025) Micronutrient supplementation influences the composition and diet-originating function of the gut microbiome in healthy adults. Clinical Nutrition, (doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2025.06.020) (In Press)

2024

Koutsos, A. et al. (2024) Variation of LDL cholesterol in response to the replacement of saturated with unsaturated fatty acids: a nonrandomized, sequential dietary intervention; the Reading, Imperial, Surrey, Saturated fat Cholesterol Intervention (“RISSCI”-1) study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 120(4), pp. 854-863. (doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2024.07.032) (PMID:39111551)

2022

Sellem, L. et al. (2022) Impact of a food-based dietary fat exchange model for replacing dietary saturated with unsaturated fatty acids in healthy men on plasma phospholipids fatty acid profiles and dietary patterns. European Journal of Nutrition, 61(7), pp. 3669-3684. (doi: 10.1007/s00394-022-02910-2) (PMID:35668120) (PMCID:PMC9464142)

2020

Ulaszewska, M. M. et al. (2020) Two apples a day modulate human:microbiome co-metabolic processing of polyphenols, tyrosine and tryptophan. European Journal of Nutrition, 59(8), pp. 3691-3714. (doi: 10.1007/s00394-020-02201-8) (PMID:32103319)

Koutsos, A. et al. (2020) Two apples a day lower serum cholesterol and improve cardiometabolic biomarkers in mildly hypercholesterolemic adults: a randomized, controlled, crossover trial. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 111(2), pp. 307-318. (doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz282) (PMID:31840162) (PMCID:PMC6997084)

Koutsos, A. et al. (2020) Determination of Variability in Serum Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Response to the Replacement of Dietary Saturated Fat with Unsaturated Fat, in the Reading, Imperial, Surrey Saturated Fat Cholesterol Intervention (‘RISSCI’) Project. The Nutrition Society Winter Conference 2019: Diet and Digestive Disease, London, UK, 02-04 Dec 2019. (doi: 10.1017/S0029665119001277)

2019

Antoni, R. et al. (2019) A dietary exchange model to study inter-individual variation in serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol response to dietary saturated fat intake. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 78(OCE1), E9. (doi: 10.1017/S0029665119000132)

2017

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Lima, Maria, Conterno, Lorenza, Gasperotti, Mattia, Bianchi, Martina, Fava, Francesca, Vrhovsek, Urska, Lovegrove, Julie and Tuohy, Kieran (2017) Effects of commercial apple varieties on human gut microbiota composition and metabolic output using an in vitro colonic model. Nutrients, 9(6), 533. (doi: 10.3390/nu9060533) (PMID:28538678) (PMCID:PMC5490512)

2016

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Ulaszewska, M., Trost, K., Mattivi, F., Tuohy, K. and Lovegrove, J.A. (2016) Can 2 apples a day improve cardiovascular and gut health? Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 75(OCE3), E81. (doi: 10.1017/S0029665116000963)

Koutsos, A. et al. (2016) Can 2 Apples a Day Decrease CVD Risk and Modulate the Gut Microbiome in Mildly Hypercholesterolaemic Subjects? In: 12th Annual Conference of the Metabolomics Society, Dublin, Ireland, 27-30 June 2016, S226-S226.

2015

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Galvin, Amanda, Braune, Tanya, Ulaszewska, Marynka, Trost, Kajetan, Mariani, Letizia, Fava, Francesca, Thornton, Claire, Viola, Roberto and Mattivi, Fulvio (2015) Impact of daily apple consumption on serum lipids and cardiovascular disease biomarkers. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 67(S1), p. 464.

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Tuohy, Kieran and Lovegrove, Julie (2015) Apples and cardiovascular health—is the gut microbiota a core consideration? Nutrients, 7(6), pp. 3959-3998. (doi: 10.3390/nu7063959) (PMID:26016654) (PMCID:PMC4488768)

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502 and Lovegrove, J.A. (2015) An apple a day keeps the doctor away - inter-relationship between apple consumption, the gut microbiota and cardiometabolic disease risk reduction. In: Tuohy, Kieran and Del Rio, Daniele (eds.) Diet-Microbe Interactions in the Gut: Effects on Human Health and Disease. Elsevier (Academic Press), pp. 173-194. ISBN 9780124078253 (doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-407825-3.00012-5)

2014

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Jackson, Kim G., Lockyer, Stacey, Carvalho-Wells, Andrew, Minihane, Anne M. and Lovegrove, Julie A. (2014) Greater impact of dietary fat manipulation than apolipoprotein E genotype on ex vivo cytokine production – Insights from the SATgenε study. Cytokine, 66(2), pp. 156-159. (doi: 10.1016/j.cyto.2013.12.015) (PMID:24485322) (PMCID:PMC3969721)

Fava, F., Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Maria Lima, M.L., Conterno, L., Vrhovsek, U., Mattivi, F., Viola, R. and Tuohy, K. (2014) Different Apple Varieties Modulate the Composition and Activity of the Human Gut Microbiota in vitro. In: Rowett-INRA 2014: Gut Microbiology: from sequence to function, Aberdeen, UK, 17 June 2014, 111-P121.

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Lima, M., Fava, F., Conterno, L., Galvin, A., Braune, T., Lovegrove, Julie A., Viola, R. and Tuohy, K. (2014) Investigating the Gastrointestinal and Systemic Effects of Apples in vitro and in vivo. In: The European Network for Gastrointestinal Health Research (ENGIHR) Conference: the Gut Microbiota Throughout Life,

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Lima, M., Fava, F., Conterno, L., Lovegrove, Julie A., Viola, R. and Tuohy, K. (2014) Apples increased the bifidobacteria population in human in vitro colonic gut model--preliminary results. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 73(OCE1), E25. (doi: 10.1017/S0029665114000391)

2013

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Conterno, L., Maria Lima, M., Fava, F., Viola, R. and Tuohy, K. (2013) Measuring in vitro the Ability of a Prebiotic and Polyphenol Combination to Beneficially Modulate the Human Gut Microbiota and Protect Against Unwanted Antibiotic Side Effects. In: The Intestinal Microbiota and Gut Health: Contribution of the Diet, Bacterial Metabolites, Host Interactions and Impact on Health and Disease, pp. 52-55.

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Lima, M., Fava, F., Conterno, L., Lovegrove, J., Viola, R. and Tuohy, K. (2013) Effect of Different Apple Varieties on Human Gut Microbiota Composition Using an In Vitro Colonic Model. In: 2013 ENGIHR Conference: the Intestinal Microbiota and Gut Health: Contribution of the Diet, Bacterial Metabolites, Host Interactions and Impact on Health and Disease, Valencia, Spain, 18 - 20 Sept 2013, pp. 76-79.

2012

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Lockyer, S., Carvalho-Wells, A.L., Minihane, A.M., Jackson, K.G. and Lovegrove, J.A. (2012) Dietary fat manipulation and not apolipoprotein E (epsilon) genotype has a significant impact on cytokine production – insights from the SATgenε study. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 71(OCE2), E30. (doi: 10.1017/S0029665112000870)

This list was generated on Wed Jul 2 12:10:48 2025 BST.
Jump to: Articles | Book Sections | Conference or Workshop Item | Conference Proceedings
Number of items: 20.

Articles

Mckirdy, Shona, Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Nichols, Ben, Anderson, Maris, Dhami, Sumet, Chowdhury, Chandrama Roy, Bergo, Anna Mascellani, Havlik, Jaroslav ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1900-0951 and Gerasimidis, Konstantinos ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9432-2200 (2025) Micronutrient supplementation influences the composition and diet-originating function of the gut microbiome in healthy adults. Clinical Nutrition, (doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2025.06.020) (In Press)

Koutsos, A. et al. (2024) Variation of LDL cholesterol in response to the replacement of saturated with unsaturated fatty acids: a nonrandomized, sequential dietary intervention; the Reading, Imperial, Surrey, Saturated fat Cholesterol Intervention (“RISSCI”-1) study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 120(4), pp. 854-863. (doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2024.07.032) (PMID:39111551)

Sellem, L. et al. (2022) Impact of a food-based dietary fat exchange model for replacing dietary saturated with unsaturated fatty acids in healthy men on plasma phospholipids fatty acid profiles and dietary patterns. European Journal of Nutrition, 61(7), pp. 3669-3684. (doi: 10.1007/s00394-022-02910-2) (PMID:35668120) (PMCID:PMC9464142)

Ulaszewska, M. M. et al. (2020) Two apples a day modulate human:microbiome co-metabolic processing of polyphenols, tyrosine and tryptophan. European Journal of Nutrition, 59(8), pp. 3691-3714. (doi: 10.1007/s00394-020-02201-8) (PMID:32103319)

Koutsos, A. et al. (2020) Two apples a day lower serum cholesterol and improve cardiometabolic biomarkers in mildly hypercholesterolemic adults: a randomized, controlled, crossover trial. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 111(2), pp. 307-318. (doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz282) (PMID:31840162) (PMCID:PMC6997084)

Antoni, R. et al. (2019) A dietary exchange model to study inter-individual variation in serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol response to dietary saturated fat intake. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 78(OCE1), E9. (doi: 10.1017/S0029665119000132)

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Lima, Maria, Conterno, Lorenza, Gasperotti, Mattia, Bianchi, Martina, Fava, Francesca, Vrhovsek, Urska, Lovegrove, Julie and Tuohy, Kieran (2017) Effects of commercial apple varieties on human gut microbiota composition and metabolic output using an in vitro colonic model. Nutrients, 9(6), 533. (doi: 10.3390/nu9060533) (PMID:28538678) (PMCID:PMC5490512)

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Ulaszewska, M., Trost, K., Mattivi, F., Tuohy, K. and Lovegrove, J.A. (2016) Can 2 apples a day improve cardiovascular and gut health? Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 75(OCE3), E81. (doi: 10.1017/S0029665116000963)

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Galvin, Amanda, Braune, Tanya, Ulaszewska, Marynka, Trost, Kajetan, Mariani, Letizia, Fava, Francesca, Thornton, Claire, Viola, Roberto and Mattivi, Fulvio (2015) Impact of daily apple consumption on serum lipids and cardiovascular disease biomarkers. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 67(S1), p. 464.

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Tuohy, Kieran and Lovegrove, Julie (2015) Apples and cardiovascular health—is the gut microbiota a core consideration? Nutrients, 7(6), pp. 3959-3998. (doi: 10.3390/nu7063959) (PMID:26016654) (PMCID:PMC4488768)

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Jackson, Kim G., Lockyer, Stacey, Carvalho-Wells, Andrew, Minihane, Anne M. and Lovegrove, Julie A. (2014) Greater impact of dietary fat manipulation than apolipoprotein E genotype on ex vivo cytokine production – Insights from the SATgenε study. Cytokine, 66(2), pp. 156-159. (doi: 10.1016/j.cyto.2013.12.015) (PMID:24485322) (PMCID:PMC3969721)

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Lima, M., Fava, F., Conterno, L., Lovegrove, Julie A., Viola, R. and Tuohy, K. (2014) Apples increased the bifidobacteria population in human in vitro colonic gut model--preliminary results. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 73(OCE1), E25. (doi: 10.1017/S0029665114000391)

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Lockyer, S., Carvalho-Wells, A.L., Minihane, A.M., Jackson, K.G. and Lovegrove, J.A. (2012) Dietary fat manipulation and not apolipoprotein E (epsilon) genotype has a significant impact on cytokine production – insights from the SATgenε study. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 71(OCE2), E30. (doi: 10.1017/S0029665112000870)

Book Sections

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502 and Lovegrove, J.A. (2015) An apple a day keeps the doctor away - inter-relationship between apple consumption, the gut microbiota and cardiometabolic disease risk reduction. In: Tuohy, Kieran and Del Rio, Daniele (eds.) Diet-Microbe Interactions in the Gut: Effects on Human Health and Disease. Elsevier (Academic Press), pp. 173-194. ISBN 9780124078253 (doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-407825-3.00012-5)

Conference or Workshop Item

Koutsos, A. et al. (2020) Determination of Variability in Serum Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Response to the Replacement of Dietary Saturated Fat with Unsaturated Fat, in the Reading, Imperial, Surrey Saturated Fat Cholesterol Intervention (‘RISSCI’) Project. The Nutrition Society Winter Conference 2019: Diet and Digestive Disease, London, UK, 02-04 Dec 2019. (doi: 10.1017/S0029665119001277)

Conference Proceedings

Koutsos, A. et al. (2016) Can 2 Apples a Day Decrease CVD Risk and Modulate the Gut Microbiome in Mildly Hypercholesterolaemic Subjects? In: 12th Annual Conference of the Metabolomics Society, Dublin, Ireland, 27-30 June 2016, S226-S226.

Fava, F., Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Maria Lima, M.L., Conterno, L., Vrhovsek, U., Mattivi, F., Viola, R. and Tuohy, K. (2014) Different Apple Varieties Modulate the Composition and Activity of the Human Gut Microbiota in vitro. In: Rowett-INRA 2014: Gut Microbiology: from sequence to function, Aberdeen, UK, 17 June 2014, 111-P121.

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Lima, M., Fava, F., Conterno, L., Galvin, A., Braune, T., Lovegrove, Julie A., Viola, R. and Tuohy, K. (2014) Investigating the Gastrointestinal and Systemic Effects of Apples in vitro and in vivo. In: The European Network for Gastrointestinal Health Research (ENGIHR) Conference: the Gut Microbiota Throughout Life,

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Conterno, L., Maria Lima, M., Fava, F., Viola, R. and Tuohy, K. (2013) Measuring in vitro the Ability of a Prebiotic and Polyphenol Combination to Beneficially Modulate the Human Gut Microbiota and Protect Against Unwanted Antibiotic Side Effects. In: The Intestinal Microbiota and Gut Health: Contribution of the Diet, Bacterial Metabolites, Host Interactions and Impact on Health and Disease, pp. 52-55.

Koutsos, Athanasios ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2952-2502, Lima, M., Fava, F., Conterno, L., Lovegrove, J., Viola, R. and Tuohy, K. (2013) Effect of Different Apple Varieties on Human Gut Microbiota Composition Using an In Vitro Colonic Model. In: 2013 ENGIHR Conference: the Intestinal Microbiota and Gut Health: Contribution of the Diet, Bacterial Metabolites, Host Interactions and Impact on Health and Disease, Valencia, Spain, 18 - 20 Sept 2013, pp. 76-79.

This list was generated on Wed Jul 2 12:10:48 2025 BST.

Grants

Grants and Awards listed are those received whilst working with the University of Glasgow.

  • Microbiome and Exclusive Enteral Nutrition in Presurgical Crohn's Disease
    Leona M and Harry B Helmsley Charitable Trust
    2024 - 2028
     
  • Discovery Award
    Scottish Funding Council
    2024 - 2025
     
  • Development of Ulcerative Colitis Treatment with Eating Diet
    Cure Crohn's Colitis
    2023 - 2027
     
  • Optimising Response to Biological Therapy with UC-TREAT
    Glasgow Children`s Hospital Charity
    2023 - 2027
     

Teaching

Dr Koutsos contributes to various courses within the MSc in Human Nutrition and co-leads the Clinical Nutrition Specialisation course.


Athanasios Koutsos