The problem with delivery

The bacteria with the strongest links to cognitive and metabolic health — keystone gut species — are strict anaerobes. They die on contact with oxygen, which means they cannot survive manufacturing, packaging, or shelf life. The "next-generation probiotics" built on them are usually pasteurised dead cells. And conventional prebiotic fibres try to feed the gut indiscriminately, at 5–10 gram doses, with no species selectivity.

There's a third way: leave the bacteria where they are, and switch them on.

Activation, not addition

TRI-01 is a plant-derived bioactive that selectively induces a named four-species consortium of keystone species already resident in the human gut:

  • Agathobaculum butyriciproducens
  • Coprococcus catus
  • Anaerostipes hadrus
  • Faecalibacillus intestinalis

Because it acts on bacteria already present, there's no viability problem and no cold chain — and because it's selective, it works at a small, precise dose rather than by bulk feeding.

Why these species

These four are keystone species — disproportionately important to a healthy gut ecosystem. They produce a broad repertoire of beneficial molecules across three distinct routes. Butyrate is part of the story, not the whole of it.

  • Immune and inflammatory control. Short-chain fatty acids act on immune signalling in the gut wall, calibrating the inflammatory tone that underlies much of age-related decline.
  • Metabolic signalling. Coprococcus catus and Anaerostipes hadrus generate propionate through pathways separate from butyrate. Propionate acts on the enteroendocrine receptors of the gut wall, the axis behind appetite and glucose regulation. This is a distinct route, not a subset of the butyrate story.
  • Neuroactive output. Coprococcus catus produces DOPAC, a dopamine metabolite; short-chain fatty acids also reach the brain directly and through vagal afferent signalling.
the four species what they are known to do Agathobaculum butyriciproducens Coprococcus catus Anaerostipes hadrus Faecalibacillus intestinalis immune & inflammatory control Short-chain fatty acids act on immune signalling in the gut wall. This is where inflammatory tone is set. metabolic signalling C. catus and A. hadrus make propionate, by a route separate from butyrate. neuroactive output C. catus makes DOPAC, a dopamine metabolite. Published animal work on A. butyriciproducens: amyloid-β burden and cognition (Lee 2020), synaptogenesis (Song 2024), dopaminergic neuroprotection (Bok 2022). SCFAs are one route of three. The hard part is reaching these species at all.
Published work on the species What is known about these four species from the literature. The animal-model findings are about the species, in animals. They are not results for TRI-01 and not claims about what it does in people — that needs clinical evidence, which is what the programme is for.

The lead species, Agathobaculum butyriciproducens, stands out for exactly this reason. In peer-reviewed mouse-model studies it has been associated with reduced amyloid-β plaque burden and cognitive improvement (Lee et al., 2020), dendritic-spine maturation and synaptogenesis (Song et al., 2024), and dopaminergic neuroprotection (Bok et al., 2022) — a capacity to modulate neuroinflammation that butyrate alone doesn't explain, and that typical butyrate-producers don't share. These are published findings about the species — the bridge to human benefit requires clinical evidence, which is the focus of our program (see the evidence).

The same logic, a second way: TRI-04

Where TRI-01 induces specific species directly, TRI-04 — a low-molecular-weight prebiotic fibre — nourishes the broader community of short-chain fatty acid producers as a clean, water-soluble substrate: the butyrate producers and the propionate producers alongside them. The acids they produce feed the same metabolic signalling now central to metabolic-health science. (A claim path under study; see TRI-04.)

A working chain every stage feeds the next one Dietary fibre complex, slow Primary degraders break it down Lactate & acetate the intermediate Keystone consortium the four species Butyrate, propionate + neuroactive output The host gut wall, and past it What thins it age · antibiotics · diet Dietary fibre unchanged Primary degraders still working Lactate & acetate still made — and left Keystone consortium thinned out Output collapses The host little arrives The chain doesn't fail loudly. The intermediates are still made — there is nobody left to convert them. More input does not fix that. Where we act two ways into the same chain Dietary fibre complex, slow Primary degraders fed and acted on Lactate & acetate the intermediate Keystone consortium induced, converting again Butyrate, propionate + neuroactive output The host supply restored TRI-04 arrives as a dietary fibre — and acts on the degraders that break fibre down TRI-01 induces these species
Schematic — no quantities shown The stages are the site's own biology: Anaerostipes hadrus and Coprococcus catus both live off lactate the stages above them release, which is why propionate is a separate route rather than part of the butyrate story. TRI-04 acts at the front of the chain in two ways at once, TRI-01 on the consortium itself. The host end What these outputs are known to do once they reach the gut wall and travel past it — short-chain fatty acids on immune signalling, propionate on the enteroendocrine receptors behind appetite and glucose regulation, DOPAC and SCFAs reaching the brain directly and through vagal afferents — is published work on those molecules and species, much of it in animal models. It is not a claim for TRI-01 or TRI-04. The figure shows only how much output arrives; what it does there is the literature the rest of this page cites, and the bridge to human benefit is what the evidence programme is for.

From mechanism to map

Both products come out of the same engine — Teroka — which learns, across the gut ecosystem, which bioactives and combinations move which species and metabolites. Mechanism isn't a one-off discovery here; it's what the platform is built to find, at scale. How the platform works →

Why can't you just put these bacteria in a probiotic?
They're strict anaerobes — they die on contact with oxygen and can't survive manufacturing or shelf life.
What does "activation" mean?
Inducing beneficial species already present in the gut, rather than delivering live cells or bulk substrate.
Is this just about butyrate?
No. Butyrate is one beneficial output; these keystone species also produce neuroactive and immunomodulatory factors, and Agathobaculum butyriciproducens in particular has a published capacity to modulate neuroinflammation that butyrate alone doesn't explain.
Which species does TRI-01 target?
A named four-species consortium: Agathobaculum butyriciproducens, Coprococcus catus, Anaerostipes hadrus, Faecalibacillus intestinalis.
How is this different from a prebiotic fibre like inulin, FOS or GOS?
Those are bulk substrates. Bacteria consume them, so the delivered mass sets the effect and the intake runs to grams. A modulator changes what resident species do without being eaten by them, which is why it works at milligrams.
How much goes into a serving?
Milligrams, where conventional prebiotic fibres need 5 to 10 grams. The figure for each active is on its own product page.
Does it need refrigeration?
No. These are plant-derived small molecules with nothing alive in them, so there is no viability to protect and no cold chain.