Gut Microbiota, Short-Chain Fatty Acids, and Herbal Medicines

Abstract

As an important source for traditional medical systems such as Ayurvedic medicine and traditional Chinese medicine, herbal medicines have received widespread attentions from all over the world, especially in developing countries. Over the past decade, studies on gut microbiota have generated rich information for understanding how gut microbiota shape the functioning of our body system. In view of the importance of gut microbiota, the researchers engaged in studying herbal medicines have paid more and more attention to gut microbiota and gut microbiota metabolites. Among a variety of gut microbiota metabolites, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) have received most attention because of their important role in maintaining the hemostasis of hosts and recovery of diseases. Herbal medicines, as an important resource provider for production of SCFAs, have been demonstrated to be able to modulate gut microbiota composition and regulate SCFAs production. In this mini-review, we summarize current knowledge about SCFAs origination, the role of SCFAs in health and disease, the influence of herbal medicine on SCFAs production and the corresponding mechanisms. At the end of this review, the strategies and suggestions for further research of SCFAs and herbal medicines are also discussed.

Interventional Influence of the Intestinal Microbiome Through Dietary Intervention and Bowel Cleansing Might Improve Motor Symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease

“…Furthermore, also in our cohort, the frequency of the genus Butyricimonas and Odoribacter were tendentially reduced [5]. Both bacteria are producers of short-fatty acids [52,53]. In summary our data support alterations of the microbiome in PD.…”

Modulation of the intestinal microbiota and the metabolites produced by the administration of ice cream and a dietary supplement containing the same probiotics

“…It is important to emphasise that not only the probiotic strains supplemented are able to produce SCFA but also other microorganisms belonging to the host gut microbiota. According to a review published by Feng et al (67) , acetate is produced mainly via the Wood-Ljungdahl and acetyl-CoA pathways by enteric bacteria such as Bifidobacterium spp., Prevotella spp., Blautia hydrogenotrophica, Lactobacillus spp. and Bacteroides spp.…”

Nutraceuticals Induced Structural Changes in Broiler Gastrointestinal Tract Microbiota

“…Data about their immunostimulatory effects conferring beneficial role against infections are ancient and not doubted [27,74,75]. Herbal medicines are receiving widespread attentions especially in developing countries because of their antibacterial behaviour and effect to improve performance and product safety in meat production systems [21,54,61,[76][77][78][79][80]. There are growing number of evidences, that complex, bioactive component rich plant extracts increase digestive enzyme secretion, nutrient absorption and decrease feed-togain ratio in meat-type chickens [28,33,40,51,73,[81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90].…”