Susana Lauw

Background: Circadian disruption (CD) aggravates metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), but supplementation with prebiotics inulin and oat β-glucan may mitigate its effects. However, their impact on colonic architecture and hepatic proteome remains unclear. Objectives: We aimed to investigate the effects of prebiotics inulin and oat β-glucan on colonic architecture and hepatic proteome in mice with CD-aggravated MASH. Methods: CD was induced by weekly reversal of the light–dark cycle to simulate shift work. Male C57BL/6J mice were subjected to non-shifted chow, non-shifted fructose, palmitate, cholesterol, and trans-fat (FPC) diet, shifted chow, or shifted FPC diet (SFPC) for 26 weeks. Prebiotics inulin and oat β-glucan supplementation were provided to the SFPC group in the final 10 weeks. Distal colon and serum samples were collected for histological examination and endotoxemia evaluation, respectively. Liver samples were collected for proteomic mass spectrometry analysis. Results: Mice with CD-aggravated MASH were found with colonic crypt loss and a distinct hepatic proteome structure compared to mice with non-CD MASH. Notably, inulin showed better effects than oat β-glucan in preserving colonic crypts in mice with CD-aggravated MASH. Furthermore, inulin supplementation restored the hepatic proteome structure similar to that of non-CD MASH mice, a benefit not observed with oat β-glucan. Conclusions: Given our prior findings showing oat β-glucan’s superior ability to enrich gut bacterial species associated with MASH improvement under CD, this study highlights inulin’s unique benefits for colonic architecture and hepatic proteome regulation in CD-aggravated MASH.

This was the first study that examined the effects of oat β-glucan and inulin on diet-induced nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in circadian-disrupted (CD)-male C57BL/6J mice. CD intensified NASH, significantly increasing alanine aminotransferase and upregulating hepatic tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and transforming growth factor β 1 (TGFβ1). However, these observations were significantly alleviated by oat β-glucan and inulin treatments. Compared to CD NASH mice, oat β-glucan significantly decreased the liver index, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and insulin. In prebiotic-treated and CD NASH mice, significant negative correlations were found between enrichment of Muribaculaceae bacterium Isolate-036 (Harlan), Muribaculaceae bacterium Isolate-001 (NCI), and Bacteroides ovatus after oat β-glucan supplementation with TNFα and TGFβ1 levels; and enrichment of Muribaculaceae bacterium Isolate-110 (HZI) after inulin supplementation with AST level. In conclusion, oat β-glucan and inulin exhibited similar antiliver injury, anti-inflammatory, and antifibrotic activities but had no effect on cecal short-chain fatty acids and gut microbiota diversity in CD NASH mice.

Gut microbiota has been described as a new ‘organ’ that interferes with host physiology by its metabolites produced from the utilization and biotransformation of undigested food components. Fu Ling (FL), the sclerotia of fungi Wolfiporia cocos, contains β-glucan, which is a known natural polysaccharide with strong medicinal efficacy. This study endeavors to evaluate the fermentability of FL and polysaccharides extracted from its sclerotia. An in vitro fermentation of structurally characterized FL and its β-glucan by human fecal microbiota was conducted. Total bacterial count, pH change, short-chain fatty acid profile and microbiota profile were assessed post-fermentation. FL containing over 70% of β-(1 → 3) and (1 → 6)-glucans with a low degree of branching of 0.24 could enhance acetic acid (a major microbial metabolite) production. Both FL and its extracted β-glucan had similar modulation on microbial composition. They enriched Phascolarctobacterium faecium, Bacteroides dorei and Parabacteroides distasonis, all of which are shown to possess anti-inflammatory effects. FL polysaccharide can be utilized as a natural whole food for its potential health benefits to human gut bacteria.

In view of the limited evidence showing anti-obesity effects of synbiotics via modulation of the gut microbiota in humans, a randomized clinical trial was performed. Assessment of the metabolic syndrome traits and profiling of the fecal gut microbiota using 16S rRNA gene sequencing in overweight and obese Hong Kong Chinese individuals before and after dietary intervention with an 8-week increased consumption of fruits and vegetables and/or synbiotic supplementation was conducted. The selected synbiotic contained two probiotics (Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM and Bifidobacterium lactis HN019) and a prebiotic (polydextrose). Fifty-five overweight or obese individuals were randomized and divided into a synbiotic group (SG; n = 19), a dietary intervention group (DG; n = 18), and a group receiving combined interventions (DSG; n = 18). DSG showed the greatest weight loss effects and number of significant differences in clinical parameters compared to its baseline values—notably, decreases in fasting glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR, and triglycerides and an increase in HDL-cholesterol. DSG lowered Megamonas abundance, which was positively associated with BMI, body fat mass, and trunk fat mass. The results suggested that increasing dietary fiber consumption from fruits and vegetables combined with synbiotic supplementation is more effective than either approach alone in tackling obesity.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the most common chronic liver disease nowadays. Currently, there is no officially approved drug to treat NAFLD. In view of the increasing global prevalence of NAFLD and an absence of treatments, the development of effective treatments is of utmost importance. β-glucan, a natural bioactive polysaccharide, has demonstrated hepatoprotective effects in NAFLD prevention and treatment. This review solely focuses on gathering the published preclinical animal studies that demonstrated the anti-liver injury, anti-steatotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic, and antioxidant activities of β-glucan. The impact of β-glucan on gut microbiota and its metabolites including short-chain fatty acids and bile acids as the underlying mechanism for its bioactive beneficial effect on NAFLD is also explored. Given the limited knowledge of β-glucan on anti-fibrotic activity, bile acid metabolism, and gut microbiota function, additional relevant research is highly encouraged to lay a solid foundation for the use of food-derived β-glucan as a functional food for NAFLD. It is envisaged that further investigation of food-derived β-glucan in human clinical studies should be carried out for its wider utilization.

The use of probiotics to improve health via the modulation of gut microbiota has gained wide attention. The growing volume of investigations of probiotic microorganisms and commercialized probiotic products has created the need for a database to organize the health-promoting functions driven by probiotics reported in academic articles, clinical trials, and patents. Currently, no such database is available. We constructed ProBioQuest to collect up-to-date literature related to probiotics from PubMed.gov, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Patents View. More than 2.8 million articles were collected by the end of 2021: PubMed.gov: 2 656 818; Clinical Trials.gov: 205 349; Patents View: 32 536. Automated information technology-assisted procedures enabled us to collect the data continuously, providing the most up-to-date information. Statistical functions and semantic analyses are provided on the website as an advanced search engine, which contributes to the semantic tool of this database for information search and analyses. The semantic analytical output provides categorised search results and functions to enhance further analysis. A keyword bank is included which can display multiple tables of contents. Users can select keywords from different displayed categories to achieve easy filtered searches. Additional information on the searched items can be browsed via the link-out function. ProBioQuest is not only useful to scientists and health professionals, but also to dietary supplement manufacturers and the general public. In this paper, the method we used to build this database-web system is described. Applications of ProBioQuest for several literature-based analyses of probiotics are included as examples of the various uses to which this search engine can be put. ProBioQuest can be accessed free of charge at http://kwanlab.bio.cuhk.edu.hk/PBQ/. Database URL http://kwanlab.bio.cuhk.edu.hk/PBQ/

The use of probiotics to improve health via the modulation of gut microbiota has gained wide attention. The growing volume of investigations of probiotic microorganisms and commercialized probiotic products has created the need for a database to organize the health-promoting functions driven by probiotics reported in academic articles, clinical trials and patents. We constructed ProBioQuest to collect up-to-date literature related to probiotics from PubMed.gov, ClinicalTrials.gov and PatentsView. More than 2.8 million articles have been collected. Automated information technology-assisted procedures enabled us to collect the data continuously, providing the most up-to-date information. Statistical functions and semantic analyses are provided on the website as an advanced search engine, which contributes to the semantic tool of this database for information search and analyses. The semantic analytical output provides categorized search results and functions to enhance further analysis. A keyword bank is included which can display multiple tables of contents. Users can select keywords from different displayed categories to achieve easily filtered searches. Additional information on the searched items can be browsed via the link-out function. ProBioQuest is not only useful to scientists and health professionals but also to dietary supplement manufacturers and the general public. In this paper, the method we used to build this database-web system is described. Applications of ProBioQuest for several literature-based analyses of probiotics are included as examples of the various uses of this search engine. ProBioQuest can be accessed free of charge at http://kwanlab.bio.cuhk.edu.hk/PBQ/. Database URL: http://kwanlab.bio.cuhk.edu.hk/PBQ/