Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T02:37:43.829Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of inulin on faecal bifidobacteria in human subjects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Hans-P. Kruse ,
Brigitta Kleessen  and
Michael Blaut
Hans-P. Kruse*
Affiliation:
University of Potsdam, Institute of Nutritional Science, Arthur-Scheunert-Allee 114–116, D-14558 Bergholz-Rehbruecke, Germany
Brigitta Kleessen
Affiliation:
German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Arthur-Scheunert-Allee 114–116, D-14558 Bergholz-Rehbruecke, Germany
Michael Blaut
Affiliation:
German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Arthur-Scheunert-Allee 114–116, D-14558 Bergholz-Rehbruecke, Germany
*
*Corresponding author: Dr Hans-P. Kruse, fax +49 33 2008 8573, email kruse@www.dife.de
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

A controlled study with eight healthy free-living subjects was carried out, in which energy intake was adjusted to the individual energy requirements. On administration of inulin, blood lipids, the faecal microflora, short-chain fatty acids and accompanying gastrointestinal symptoms were characterized in order to investigate the long-term effect of inulin. During the run-in phase (8 d), subjects received a typical Western diet providing 45 % energy as fat and 40 % energy as carbohydrate. Subsequently, the subjects consumed a fat-reduced diet which provided 30 % energy as fat and 55 % energy as carbohydrate for a period of 64 d using inulin as a fat replacer. The amounts of inulin consumed by the subjects (up to 34 g/d) were based on individual energy requirements with the aim to keep the diet isoenergetic with that used in the run-in period. To assess the effects of inulin administration, a control study (run-in and intervention) was carried out in which subjects consumed the same diet but devoid of inulin during the whole course of the study. To investigate the effect of inulin on faecal flora composition total bacteria and bifidobacteria in the faeces were enumerated by in situ hybridization with 16S rRNA targeted oligonucleotide probes. Inulin significantly increased bifidobacteria from 9·8 to 11·0 log10/g dry faeces and caused a moderate increase in gastrointestinal symptoms such as flatulence and bloatedness, whereas blood lipids and short-chain fatty acids remained essentially unaffected.

Keywords

InulinBlood lipidsBifidobacteria
Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 82 , Issue 5 , November 1999 , pp. 375 - 382
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1999

References

Amann, RI, Ludwig, W & Schleifer, K-H (1995) Phylogenetic identification and in situ detection of individual microbial cells without cultivation. Microbiological Reviews 59, 143–169.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bouhnik, Y, Flourie, B, Andrieux, C, Bisetti, N, Briet, F & Rambaud, J-C (1996) Effects of Bifidobacterium sp fermented milk ingested with or without inulin on colonic bifidobacteria and enzymatic activities in healthy humans. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 50, 269–273.Google ScholarPubMed
Bruhn, CM, Cotter, A, Diaz-Knauf, K, Sutherlin, J, West, E, Wightman, N, Williamson, E & Yaffee, M (1992) Consumer attitudes and market potential for foods using fat substitutes. Food Technology 46, 81–86.Google Scholar
Buddington, RK, Williams, CH, Chen, S-C & Whiherly, SA (1996) Dietary supplements of neosugar alters the fecal flora and decreases activities of some reductive enzymes in human subjects. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 63, 709–716.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canzi, E, Brighenti, F, Casiraghi, MC, Del Puppo, E & Ferrari, A (1996) Prolonged consumption of inulin in ready-to-eat breakfast cereals: effects on intestinal ecosystem, bowel habits and lipid metabolism. In Proceedings of the COST Action 92 ‘Dietary Fiber and Fermentation in the Colon’, Espoo, Finland, 15–17 June 1995, pp. 280–284 [Mälkki, Y and Cummings, JH, editors]. Brussels: European Commission, Directorate-General XII, Science, Research and Development.Google Scholar
Coulston, AM, Liu, GC & Reaven, GM (1983) Plasma glucose, insulin and lipid responses to high-carbohydrate low-fat diets in normal humans. Metabolism 32, 52–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cummings, JH (1981) Short-chain fatty acids in the human colon. Gut 22, 763–779.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cummings, JH & MacFarlane, GT (1997) Role of intestinal bacteria in nutrient metabolism. Clinical Nutrition 16, 3–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, MH, Maki, KC, Synecki, C, Torri, SA & Drennan, KB (1998) Effects of dietary inulin on serum lipids in men and women with hypercholesterolemia. Nutrition Research 18, 503–517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delzenne, NM, Kok, N, Fiordaliso, M-F, Deboyser, DM, Goethals, FM & Roberfroid, MB (1993) Dietary fructo-oligosaccharides modify lipid metabolism in rats. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 57, 820S.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dreon, DM, Frey-Hewitt, B, Ellsworth, N, Williams, PT, Terry, RB & Wood, PD (1988) Dietary fat: carbohydrate ratio and obesity in middle aged men. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 47, 995–1000.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Erbersdobler, H, Petry, H & Tiews, J (1976) Energiehaushalt (Energy balance). In Lehrbuch der Veterinär-Physiologie, 6th ed., pp. 325–362 [Scheunert, A and Trautmann, A, editors]. Berlin: Parey-Verlag.Google Scholar
Fuller, R (1991) Probiotics in medicine. Gut 32, 439–442.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibson, GR, Beatty, ER, Wang, X & Cummings, JH (1995) Selective stimulation of bifidobacteria in the human colon by oligofructose and inulin. Gastroenterology 108, 975–982.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gibson, GR & Roberfroid, MB (1995) Dietary modulation of the human colonic microbiota: introducing the concept of prebiotics. Journal of Nutrition 125, 1401–1412.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gibson, GR & Wang, X (1994) Regulatory effects of bifidobacteria on other colonic bacteria. Journal of Applied Bacteriology 77, 412–420.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grundy, SM (1991) Recent nutrition research: implications for foods of the future. Annals of Medicine 23, 187–193.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hautvast, J (1992) Nutrition in the nineties: an overall view. In Human Nutrition. A Continuing Debate, pp. 218–231 [Eastwood, M, Edwards, C and Parry, D, editors]. London, New York, Tokyo, Melbourne, Madras: Chapman & Hall.Google Scholar
Hidaka, H, Tashiro, Y & Eida, T (1991) Proliferation of bifidobacteria by oligosaccharides and their useful effect on human health. Bifidobacteria Microflora 10, 65–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kleessen, B, Sykura, B, Zunft, H-J & Blaut, M (1997) Effects of inulin and lactose on fecal microflora, microbial activity, and bowel habit in elderly constipated persons. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 65, 1397–1402.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klesges, RC, Klesges, LM, Haddock, CK & Eck, LH (1992) A longitudinal analysis of the impact of dietary intake and physical activity on weight change in adults. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 55, 818–822.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Langendijk, PS, Schut, F, Jansen, GJ, Raangs, GC, Kamphuis, GR, Wilkinson, MHF & Welling, GW (1995) Quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization of Bifidobacterium spp. with genus-specific 16S rRNA-targeted probes and its application in fecal samples. Applied Environmental Microbiology 61, 3069–3075.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luo, J, Rizkalla, SW, Alamowitch, C, Boussairi, A, Blayo, A, Barry, J-L, Lafitte, A, Guyon, F, Bornet, FRJ & Slama, G (1996) Chronic consumption of short-chain fructooligosaccharides by healthy subjects decreased basal hepatic glucose production but had no effects on inulin-stimulated glucose metabolism. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 63, 939–945.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manz, W, Szewzyk, U, Eriksson, P, Amann, R, Schleifer, K-H & Stenström, T-A (1993) In situ identification of bacteria in drinking water and adjoining biofilms by hybridization with 16S and 23S rRNA-directed fluorescent oligonucleotide probes. Applied Environmental Microbiology 59, 2293–2298.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pedersen, A, Sandström, B & van Amselvoort, JMM (1997) The effect of ingestion of inulin on blood lipids and gastrointestinal symptoms in healthy females. British Journal of Nutrition 78, 215–222.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pomare, EW, Branch, WJ & Cummings, JH (1985) Carbohydrate fermentation in the human colon and its relation to acetate concentrations in venous blood. Journal of Clinical Investigation 75, 1448–1454.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberfroid, MB (1993) Dietary fiber, inulin and oligofructose: a review comparing their physiological effects. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 33, 102–148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberfroid, MB, Gibson, GR & Delzenne, N (1993) The biochemistry of oligofructose, a nondigestible fibre: an approach to calculate its caloric value. Nutrition Reviews 51, 137–146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberfroid, MB, Van Loo, JAE & Gibson, GR (1998) The bifidogenic nature of chicory inulin and its hydrolysis products. Journal of Nutrition 128, 11–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roediger, WEW (1980) Role of anaerobic bacteria in the metabolic welfare of the colonic mucosa in man. Gut 21, 793–798.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roland, IR (1988) Factors affecting metabolic activity of the intestinal microflora. Drug Metabolism Reviews 19, 243–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheppach, W (1994) Effects of short chain fatty acids on gut morphology and function. Gut 35, S35–S38.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scheppach, WM, Fabian, CE & Kasper, HW (1987) Fecal short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) analysis by capillary gas-liquid chromatography. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 46, 641–646.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scheppach, W, Sachs, M, Bartram, P & Kasper, H (1989) Faecal short-chain fatty acids after colonic surgery. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 43, 21–25.Google ScholarPubMed
Silva, RF (1996) Use of inulin as a natural texture modifier. Cereal Foods World 41, 792–794.Google Scholar
Sobotka, L, Bratova, M, Slemrova, M, Manak, J, Vizda, J & Zadak, Z (1997) Inulin as the soluble fiber in liquid enteral nutrition. Nutrition 13, 21–25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steiniger, J, Karst, H, Noack, R & Steglich, H-D (1987) Diet-induced thermogenesis in man: thermic effects of single protein and carbohydrate test meals in lean and obese subjects. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism 31, 117–125.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taylor, GRJ & Williams, CM (1998) Effects of probiotics and prebiotics on blood lipids. British Journal of Nutrition 80, S225–S230.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Munster, IP, de Boer, HM, Jansen, MC, de Haan, AE, Katan, MB, van Amselvoort, JM & Nagengast, FM (1994) Effect of resistant starch on breath-hydrogen and methane excretion in healthy volunteers. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 59, 626–630.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, X & Gibson, GR (1993) Effect of the in vitro fermentation of oligofructose and inulin by bacteria growing in the human large intestine. Journal of Applied Bacteriology 75, 373–380.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watts, GF, Lewis, B, Brunt, JNH, Lewis, ES, Coltart, DJ, Smith, LDR, Mann, JI & Swan, AV (1992) Effects on coronary artery disease of lipid-lowering diet, or diet plus cholestyramine, in the St Thomas' Atherosclerosis Regression Study (STARS). Lancet 339, 563–569.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Welling, GW, Elfferich, P, Raangs, GC, Wildeboer-Veloo, ACM, Jansen, GJ & Degener, JE (1997) 16S Ribosomal rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes for monitoring of intestinal tract bacteria. Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology 32, Suppl. 222, 17–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilcoxon, F & Wilcox, RA (1964) Some Rapid Approximate Statistical Procedures. New York, NY: Lederle Laboratories.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1985) Energy and Protein Requirements. Technical Report Series no. 724. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Yamashita, K, Kawai, K & Itakura, M (1984) Effects of fructo-oligosaccharides on blood glucose and serum lipids in diabetic subjects. Nutrition Research 4, 961–966.CrossRefGoogle Scholar