Study: Short Chain Fructo-Oligosaccharides can Modulate Metabolism

19 Sep 2013 --- Short Chain Fructo-oligosaccharides (scFOS) prebiotic fibres can significantly modulate metabolism including insulinaemia, in the context of diet-induced obesity, as confirmed by a French study published in August 2013.

This study was led by Dr Frederique Respondek, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Manager at Tereos Syral, together with 2 research teams of INRA (Marseille and Jouy-en-Josas). It used an animal model of diet-induced obesity, harbouring a human-type microbiota, and showed the effect of scFOS on the composition of the faecal microbiota with a link to metabolic parameters. “This represents an important step in understanding the influence of scFOS on metabolism, its mechanism of action and potential interest for human health, especially for the prevention of type 2 diabetes”, Respondek says.

Prebiotic fibres like short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides (scFOS) are known to selectively modulate the composition of the intestinal microbiota. In parallel, some recent studies have clearly pointed out a link between the gut microbiota and diet-induced obesity and its associated insulin resistance. The aim of the study was to further investigate the possible impact of the fermentation of scFOS in the colon on the regulation of blood glucose and insulin sensitivity of peripheral organs.

The researchers used a humanised mice model consisting of germ-free mice inoculated with a sample of faecal human microbiota, to study the effects of scFOS in a high fat diet known to induce obesity and impair glucose metabolism. Forty-eight mice were randomly assigned for 7 weeks to one of 3 following diets: a control diet, a high fat diet (60% of energy derived from fat) or an isocaloric high fat diet containing 10% of scFOS.

As expected, mice fed with the two high fat diets gained more weight than mice from the control group. However, addition of scFOS in the diet partially abolished the deposition of fat mass. It also significantly increased faecal Bifidobacteria and Clostridium coccoides as shown by the results of the FISH technique, while the Clostridium leptum group was decreased. Respondek and her collaborators found that these changes were correlated with some metabolic parameters including the reduction of insulinaemia and the presence of certain types of bile acids in feces.

“These results were obtained thanks to a convergence of experimental techniques: a complete investigation of the metabolome and the intestinal microbiota in an animal model of the human microbiota”, says Dr Jean-Charles Martin (INRA Marseille). They give new insights into the effects of scFOS on gut microbiota composition and activity, which may partly explain the effect on the reduction of insulinaemia in a context of high fat diet. While scFOS are very well-known to increase Bifidobacteria, the observed metabolic effect was rather related to the increase in Clostridium coccoides and decrease in Clostridium leptum group.

These results provide further hypothesis to be confirmed on how these dietary fibres may contribute to prevent metabolic disorders triggered by environment factors like poor dietary habits, e.g improving insulin sensitivity as shown in previous studies. It would be thus interesting to examine the direct involvement of the hydroxy-fatty acids and bile acids derivatives which play a role in fat digestion. The same kind of approach that was implemented in the present mouse study could be also performed in human and could be helpful to study the scFOS biological response.

Tereos Syral confirms its will to further invest in the scientific understanding of the effects of its food ingredient scFOS on animal and human health.

Reference:
Short-Chain Fructo-Oligosaccharides Modulate Intestinal Microbiota and Metabolic Parameters of Humanized Gnotobiotic Diet Induced Obesity Mice.PLoS One. 2013;8(8):e71026
Frederique Respondek 1,2,3, Philippe Gerard 4,5, Mathilde Bossis 2,3, Laura Boschat 4,5, Aurélia Bruneau 4,5, Sylvie Rabot 4,5, Anne Wagner 1, Jean-Charles Martin 2,3
1 Innovation, Tereos-Syral, Marckolsheim, France, 2 Aix-Marseille University, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France, 3 INSERM, UMR1062 ‘‘Nutrition, Obésité et Risque Trombotique’’, Marseille, France, 4 INRA, UMR1319 Micalis, Jouy en Josas, France, 5 AgroParisTech, UMR Micalis, Jouy-en-Josas, France