Bifidobacteria and Butyrate-Producing Colon Bacteria: Importance and Strategies for Their Stimulation in the Human Gut

Abstract

With the increasing amount of evidence linking certain disorders of the human body to a disturbed gut microbiota, there is a growing interest for compounds that positively influence its composition and activity through diet. Besides the consumption of probiotics to stimulate favorable bacterial communities in the human gastrointestinal tract, prebiotics such as inulin-type fructans (ITF) and arabinoxylan-oligosaccharides (AXOS) can be consumed to increase the number of bifidobacteria in the colon. Several functions have been attributed to bifidobacteria, encompassing degradation of non-digestible carbohydrates, protection against pathogens, production of vitamin B, antioxidants, and conjugated linoleic acids, and stimulation of the immune system. During life, the numbers of bifidobacteria decrease from up to 90% of the total colon microbiota in vaginally delivered breast-fed infants to <5% in the colon of adults and they decrease even more in that of elderly as well as in patients with certain disorders such as antibiotic-associated diarrhea, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, obesity, allergies, and regressive autism. It has been suggested that the bifidogenic effects of ITF and AXOS are the result of strain-specific yet complementary carbohydrate degradation mechanisms within cooperating bifidobacterial consortia. Except for a bifidogenic effect, ITF and AXOS also have shown to cause a butyrogenic effect in the human colon, i.e., an enhancement of colon butyrate production. Butyrate is an essential metabolite in the human colon, as it is the preferred energy source for the colon epithelial cells, contributes to the maintenance of the gut barrier functions, and has immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties. It has been shown that the butyrogenic effects of ITF and AXOS are the result of cross-feeding interactions between bifidobacteria and butyrate-producing colon bacteria, such as Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (clostridial cluster IV) and Anaerostipes, Eubacterium, and Roseburia species (clostridial cluster XIVa). These kinds of interactions possibly favor the co-existence of bifidobacterial strains with other bifidobacteria and with butyrate-producing colon bacteria in the human colon.

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, the Gut Microbiome, and Diet

“…In addition, inulin can stimulate the metabolic activity of Roseburia spp. and E. rectale genera of the Firmicutes phylum (117,118). Roseburia spp.…”

Neurogenic Bowel, Disordered Glycemic Control and Chronic Spinal Cord Injury: A Preliminary Investigation

“…Cani et al [8] demonstrated that lipopolysaccharide, a component of certain gram negative bacterial membranes, can translocation across a "leaky" gut wall, stimulating a cascade of inflammatory cytokine release, increased adiposity, and hyperglycemia. Gungor et al [9] recently described fecal microbiomal shifts among individuals with SCI resulting in reduced production of butyrate, a fatty acid instrumental in preserving gut barrier functions [10]. While our data and the scope of this preliminary work are insufficient to support conclusions about metabolic effects of neurogenic bowel, they raise the possibility of a unifying explanation (microbiomal perturbations with resulting "leaky" gut) for both the adipose deposition in skeletal muscle and the post-prandial hyperglycemia often seen in people with SCI.…”

Comparison study of gut microbiota in case of Parkinson’s disease and other neurological disorders

“…Известно, что Eubacterium cylindroides является важным источником бутирата -од-ного из важнейших противовоспалительных факторов, продуцируемых симбиотическими бактериями кишечника [17]. К продуцентам бу-тирата, предположительно оказывающим про-биотическое влияние, относят также бактерии родов Anaerostipes, Fusicatenibacter, Roseburia, Blautia, Coprococcus и видов Clostridium populeti, Roseburia faecis и Roseburia intestinalis, повышенные в группе пациентов с другими неврологическими заболеваниями [18][19][20]. Снижение представленности бактерий Roseburia, Blautia и Coprococcus в кишечной микробиоте при болезни Паркинсона отмечалось также при сравнении со здоровыми людьми в исследовании, проведенном на американской популяции [8].…”