Fructo-oligosaccharides and glucose homeostasis: a systematic review and meta-analysis in animal models

Abstract

The aim of this systematic review was to assess the effect of fructo-oligosaccharide supplementation on glucose homeostasis. The search process was based on the selection of publications listed in the Pubmed-Medline database until April 2016 to identify studies evaluating the impact of short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides or oligofructose on glucose homeostasis. Twenty-nine trials were included in the systematic review and the meta-analysis was performed on twelve of these papers according to the inclusion criteria. Fasting blood concentrations of glucose and insulin were selected as pertinent criteria of glucose homeostasis for the meta-analysis. The consumption of fructo-oligosaccharides decreased fasting blood glycaemia levels, whatever the metabolic status (healthy, obese or diabetic) and diet (low-fat or high-fat) throughout the experiment. This reduction was linear with prebiotic dose (from 0 to 13% of the feed). Fasting insulinaemia also decreased linearly with fructo-oligosaccharide supplementation but the reduction was only significant in rodents fed a low-fat diet. Potential underlying mechanisms include gut bacterial fermentation of fructo-oligosaccharides to short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and bacterial modulation of bile acids, both interacting with host metabolism.This systemic review, followed by the meta-analysis, provides evidence that fructo-oligosaccharide supplementation has a significant effect on glucose homeostasis whatever the health status and diet consumed by animals.

Short chain fatty acids in human gut and metabolic health

“…Also, other studies using one specific fibre did not show very pronounced metabolic effects as reviewed by Canfora et al (2019). Although some studies using specific prebiotic supplements showed promising metabolic effects (Dehghan et al, 2016;Dehghan et al, 2013;Rao et al, 2019), the message may be that it is important to keep the diversity of SCFA-producing bacteria high by providing different microbial substrates instead of stimulating one specific SCFA producing genus (Le Bourgot et al, 2018;Rao et al, 2019).…”

Plasma and Urinary (Poly)phenolic Profiles after 4-Week Red Raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.) Intake with or without Fructo-Oligosaccharide Supplementation

“…Fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) are soluble dietary fibers, and as prebiotics, they are selectively fermented by specific gut microbiota [ 10 ]. FOS are naturally present in select fruits and vegetables or produced from beet sugar, frequently used to replace sugars in the formulation of low-sugar food [ 11 ]. Animal studies indicate FOS augments (poly)phenolic metabolites generation: adding FOS to a 4-week intake of (poly)phenol concentrate from apple pomace enhanced the hydrolysis of quercetin 3- O -glucoside in rats [ 12 ]; and adding FOS to a 4-week strawberry feeding study enhanced urolithins production in rats [ 13 ].…”

Bacteria in the ageing gut: did the taming of fire promote a long human lifespan?

“…This latter observation may in fact be interpreted in a quite different way. It could well be that the bulk of the microbiota of faecal origin does not reflect the nature of the microbes that are important for the host [except, perhaps, for the recovery of carbon derived metabolites (Louis and Flint, ; Le Bourgot et al ., )], in particular via key interactions with cell surfaces. As a matter of fact, cell surfaces are substantially modified by glycosylation.…”