Epidemiological studies have shown an inverse relationship between risk of CVD and intake of whole grain (WG)-rich food. Regular consumption of breakfast cereals can provide not only an increase in dietary WG but also improvements to cardiovascular health. Various mechanisms have been proposed, including prebiotic modulation of the colonic microbiota. In the present study, the prebiotic activity of a maize-derived WG cereal (WGM) was evaluated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled human feeding study (n 32). For a period of 21 d, healthy men and women, mean age 32 (SD 8) years and BMI 23·3 (SD 0·58) kg/m 2 , consumed either 48 g/d WG cereal (WGM) or 48 g placebo cereal (non-whole grain (NWG)) in a crossover fashion. Faecal samples were collected at five points during the study on days 0, 21, 42, 63 and 84 (representing at baseline, after both treatments and both wash-out periods). Faecal bacteriology was assessed using fluorescence in situ hybridisation with 16S rRNA oligonucleotide probes specific for Bacteroides spp., Bifidobacterium spp., Clostridium histolyticum/perfringens subgroup, Lactobacillus -Enterococcus subgroup and total bacteria. After 21 d consumption of WGM, mean group levels of faecal bifidobacteria increased significantly compared with the control cereal (P¼0·001). After a 3-week wash-out period, bifidobacterial levels returned to pre-intervention levels. No statistically significant changes were observed in serum lipids, glucose or measures of faecal output. In conclusion, this WG maize-enriched breakfast cereal mediated a bifidogenic modulation of the gut microbiota, indicating a possible prebiotic mode of action.Gut microbiota: Breakfast: Cereals: Whole grains: Maize: Prebiotics A diet rich in whole grains (WG) is widely considered to be beneficial; however, WG consumed as breakfast cereals are reported to have a number of additional benefits, including regulation of body weight, decreased risk of type 2 diabetes and an inverse relationship with CVD-specific and total mortality (1 -3) . The gut microbiota is increasingly recognised as a co-evolved microbial partner, complementing and extending human-encoded metabolic capabilities and interacting closely with human diet to mediate host health and disease (4 -7) . Supplementation of the gut with fermentable carbohydrates such as inulin and resistant starch has been shown to decrease the risk of chronic disease, and can be partly attributed to modulation of the gut microbiota via the prebiotic effect (8 -11) . Commercially established prebiotics are often non-digestible oligosaccharides such as fructo-oligosaccharides, inulin and oligofructose, together with emerging prebiotics such as xylo-oligosaccharides and arabinoxylan oligosaccharides. Despite a good safety record in large doses, they can be responsible for gastrointestinal discomfort as tolerance, and side effects can vary widely between individuals (12) . An alternative approach is to use foods that are naturally WG rich which when fermented in vivo possess inherent potential prebi...
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