An Update on Prebiotics and on Their Health Effects

Abstract

Prebiotic compounds were originally defined as “a nondigestible food ingredient that beneficially affects the host by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of one or a limited number of bacteria in the colon, and thus improves host health”; however, a significant modulation of the definition was carried out in the consensus panel of The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), and the last definition states that “prebiotics are substrates that are selectively utilized by host microorganisms conferring a health benefit”. Health effects of prebiotics compounds attracted the interest of researchers, food companies and Regulatory Agencies, as inferred by the number of articles on Scopus for the keywords “prebiotic” and “health effects”, that is ca. 2000, for the period January 2021–January 2024. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to contribute to the debate on these topics by offering an overview of existing knowledge and advances in this field. A literature search was performed for the period 2012–2023 and after the selection of the most relevant items, the attention was focused on seven conditions for which at least 8–10 different studies were found, namely colorectal cancer, neurological or psychiatric conditions, intestinal diseases, obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and immune system disorders. In addition, the analysis of the most recent articles through the software VosViewer version 1.6.20 pointed out the existence of five clusters or macro-categories, namely: (i) pathologies; (ii) metabolic condvitions; (iii) structure and use in food; (iv) immunomodulation; (v) effect on gut microbiota.

The Profound Influence of Gut Microbiome and Extracellular Vesicles on Animal Health and Disease

“…Prebiotics are substrates that bacteria in the GI tract utilize, promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria and conferring health benefits to the host [112]. Their relationship with gut microbiota-derived exosomes is an emerging area of research with significant implications for host health and performance.…”

Comparative analysis of pectin and prebiotics on human microbiota modulation in early life stages and adults

“…Prebiotics, defined as “a substrate that is selectively utilized by host microorganisms conferring a health benefit”, 26 historically needed to fulfill three criteria: resist gastric digestion by human enzymes and intestinal absorption; be fermented by gut microbiota; and selectively stimulate the growth or activity of beneficial bacteria. 29,85 While prebiotics were previously associated with increasing only Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus , 40,86 the latest understanding widened the concept to acknowledge that the health benefits can arise from selective modulation of various beneficial bacteria. 87,88 The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) further emphasizes that ideal prebiotics should not form gas distension after ingestion, ensuring selective fermentation without stimulating the growth of Clostridium , a gas former genera.…”

“…Using the software VOSViewer version 1.6.20, it is possible to have an overview of the research topic based on how often the keywords or combination of keywords appeared. 29 The results in clusters are organized based on how big they are; the first cluster will have more items than the last. 29 In the first scenario, the terms used in the SCOPUS platform, searching within all fields, were “intestinal”, “microbiota”, “modulation”, “newborn”, “human”, “adult”, “and prebiotics”, using the Boolean operator “AND” between the terms, returned 3559 articles from 1998 to 2024.…”

“…29 The results in clusters are organized based on how big they are; the first cluster will have more items than the last. 29 In the first scenario, the terms used in the SCOPUS platform, searching within all fields, were “intestinal”, “microbiota”, “modulation”, “newborn”, “human”, “adult”, “and prebiotics”, using the Boolean operator “AND” between the terms, returned 3559 articles from 1998 to 2024. The bibliography clustering was performed in the VOSViewer software, with the association strength method, with a layout of attraction being 2 and repulsion being 1, with a clustering resolution of 1 and minimum small clusters of 1, and random starts and iterations of 10 (Fig.…”

Regulations of Citrus Pectin Oligosaccharide on Cholesterol Metabolism: Insights from Integrative Analysis of Gut Microbiota and Metabolites

“…The intestinal microbiota composition was reported to be selectively stimulated by prebiotics to confer health effects [23]. As potential prebiotics, pectin and chitosan oligosaccharides have been proven to promote cholesterol metabolism by modifying intestinal flora compositions and SCFA profiles [24,25].…”