Rice bran supplementation modulates growth, microbiota and metabolome in weaning infants: a clinical trial in Nicaragua and Mali

Abstract

Rice bran supplementation provides nutrients, prebiotics and phytochemicals that enhance gut immunity, reduce enteric pathogens and diarrhea, and warrants attention for improvement of environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) in children. EED is a subclinical condition associated with stunting due to impaired nutrient absorption. This study investigated the effects of rice bran supplementation on weight for age and length for age z-scores (WAZ, LAZ), EED stool biomarkers, as well as microbiota and metabolome signatures in weaning infants from 6 to 12 months old that reside in Nicaragua and Mali. Healthy infants were randomized to a control (no intervention) or a rice bran group that received daily supplementation with increasing doses at each month (1–5 g/day). Stool microbiota were characterized using 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing. Stool metabolomes were analyzed using ultra-high-performance liquid-chromatography tandem mass-spectrometry. Statistical comparisons were completed at 6, 8, and 12 months of age. Daily consumption of rice bran was safe and feasible to support changes in LAZ from 6–8 and 8–12 months of age in Nicaragua and Mali infants when compared to control. WAZ was significantly improved only for Mali infants at 8 and 12 months. Mali and Nicaraguan infants showed major differences in the overall gut microbiota and metabolome composition and structure at baseline, and thus each country cohort demonstrated distinct microbial and metabolite profile responses to rice bran supplementation when compared to control. Rice bran is a practical dietary intervention strategy that merits development in rice-growing regions that have a high prevalence of growth stunting due to malnutrition and diarrheal diseases. Rice is grown as a staple food, and the bran is used as animal feed or wasted in many low- and middle-income countries where EED and stunting is prevalent.

Plasma and Urine Metabolite Profiles Impacted by Increased Dietary Navy Bean Intake in Colorectal Cancer Survivors: A Randomized-Controlled Trial

“…The global nontargeted metabolomics was performed through Metabolon, Inc. The extraction method has been described previously (33). Briefly, 80% methanol was added on plasma and urine in a ratio of 300 mL solvent per 100 mg plasma or urine.…”

“…Plasma and urine are ideal biological fluids to examine the physiologic effects of dietary exposures and have shown sensitivity to detect subtle and major changes in metabolite abundance over time (32,33). A nontargeted metabolite approach was applied herein to assess metabolic modulation of colorectal cancer risk following increased navy bean intake.…”

Effects of a Rice Bran Dietary Intervention on the Composition of the Intestinal Microbiota of Adults with a High Risk of Colorectal Cancer: A Pilot Randomised-Controlled Trial

“…If so, this would suggest that a rice bran dietary intervention should be used for the chemoprevention of CRC in those who have a high risk of developing this disease. Furthermore, only a few human studies have examined the effects of a rice bran dietary intervention on the intestinal microbiota [15][16][17][18], and only one was conducted in a Chinese population [17]. As the composition of the intestinal microbiota has been shown to differ across ethnicities [19], possibly due to lifestyle and genetic factors that may affect the microbiome composition [20,21], the intake of rice bran is likely to exhibit different effects on the intestinal microbiota of individuals of different ethnicities.…”

Rice Bran and Quercetin Produce a Positive Synergistic Effect on Human Gut Microbiota, Elevate the Level of Propionate, and Reduce the Population ofEnterobacteriaceaefamily when Determined using a Bioreactor Model

“…However, very few in vivo studies have highlighted its effect on gut microbiota and the reports have striking differences. In a clinical trial, Zambrana et al, (2019) showed significant enrichment of Veillonella, Megasphaera and Dialister species at the genus level from gut samples of children from either Nicaragua or Mali at 12 months’ time (24). Another study by Sheflin et al, (2015) showed a significant increase in the abundance of Methanobrevibacter smithii, Paraprevotella clara, Ruminococcus flavefaciens, Dialister succinatiphilus, Bifidobacterium sp., Clostridium glycolicum, Barnesiella intestinihominis, Anaerostipes caccae and Ruminococcus bromii OTUs after heat stabilized rice bran was fed to people (3 g/day) (25).…”

“…Despite multiple studies corroborating the beneficial effect of rice bran and quercetin on the host, their effect on microbiota varies significantly from study to study and has lower taxonomic resolution (22, 24-26). Variation in in vivo studies are due to multiple compounding host-related factors which makes it difficult to interpret microbiome results precisely (27).…”