Systematic Review and Meta-analysis: Short-Chain Fatty Acid Characterization in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Abstract

Background Alterations in gut microbiota and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) have been reported in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but the results are conflicting. The aim of this study was to perform a meta-analysis to explore the characterization of SCFAs in IBD patients and their potential role in the occurrence and development of IBD. Methods Case–control studies investigating SCFAs in IBD patients were identified from several English databases. The standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated using the random-effects model. Results The SMDs of acetate, valerate, and total SCFAs in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients were –0.51 (95% CI, –0.90 to –0.13), –0.65 (95% CI, –1.02 to –0.28), and –0.51 (95% CI, –0.95 to –0.07), respectively. The SMDs of acetate, propionate, and butyrate in patients with active UC were –1.74 (95% CI, –3.15 to –0.33), –2.42 (95% CI, –4.24 to –0.60), and –1.99 (95% CI, –3.39 to –0.60), respectively. However, the SMD of butyrate in UC patients in remission was 0.72 (95% CI, 0.34 to 1.11). In addition, the SMDs of acetate, butyrate, and valerate in Crohn’s disease (CD) patients were –1.43 (95% CI, –2.81 to –0.04), –0.77 (95% CI, –1.39 to –0.14), and –0.75 (95% CI, –1.47 to –0.02), respectively. Finally, the SMDs of acetate, propionate, butyrate, valerate, and lactate in IBD patients were –2.19 (95% CI, –3.98 to –0.39), –1.64 (95% CI, –3.02 to –0.25), –1.98 (95% CI, –3.93 to –0.03), –0.55 (95% CI, –0.93 to –0.18), and 4.02 (95% CI, 1.44 to 6.61), respectively. Conclusions There were alterations of SCFAs in IBD patients, and inconsistent SCFA alterations were found in CD and UC. More importantly, inverse SCFA alterations existed in patients with active UC and those in remission.

Enteral Nutrition Supplemented with Transforming Growth Factor-β, Colostrum, Probiotics, and Other Nutritional Compounds in the Treatment of Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

“…In patients with IBD gut SCFAs are reduced, although the results of the relevant studies could be characterized as conflicting. In a recently published systematic review and metaanalysis, Zhuang et al found significant alterations of SCFAs in IBD patients; e.g., in patients with active and inactive ulcerative colitis inverse SCFA alterations [98]. The significance of these fatty acids in the pathogenesis of IBD is further supported by the fact according to which bacteria in mucosa and feces of patients with IBD producing SCFAs are reduced.…”

Optimisation of Urine Sample Preparation for Headspace-Solid Phase Microextraction Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry: Altering Sample pH, Sulphuric Acid Concentration and Phase Ratio

“…So far, VOC analysis of faeces has shown: (i) the increase in esters of short chain fatty acids, cyclohexanecarboxylic acid and its ester derivatives associated with inflammatory bowel syndrome (diarrhoea type) [9]; (ii) the loss of short chain fatty acid in active inflammatory bowel disease [10,11] and, finally, (iii) an increase in propan-2-ol and the ratio of propan-2-ol to 3-methylbutanoic acid in colorectal cancer [12]. Urinary VOCs have unsurprisingly been proposed to be useful to detect metabolic changes in conditions involved in urological systems, for example, urinary tract infection [13], minimal change type nephrotic syndrome [14], and urological cancer detection (kidney, renal cell carcinoma, and bladder) [1,[15][16][17].…”

Butyric Acid Increases the Therapeutic Effect of EHLJ7 on Ulcerative Colitis by Inhibiting JAK2/STAT3/SOCS1 Signaling Pathway

“…In patients with ulcerative colitis, the numbers of beneficial bacteria in the intestines reduced, while the numbers of pathogenic bacteria and harmful bacteria increased (Nagao-Kitamoto and Kamada, 2017). Furthermore, studies found that the expression of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in the intestinal flora of UC patients was significantly lower than that of normal people (Pohjonen et al, 2019;Zhuang et al, 2019;Danilova et al, 2019).…”