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Role of Intestinal Microbiota in Ulcerative Colitis

Role of Intestinal Microbiota in Ulcerative Colitis

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Theoretical part<br />

23<br />

4. Modulation <strong>of</strong> the gut microbiota<br />

butyrate. These side effects have implicated sulphate‐reduc<strong>in</strong>g bacteria and sulphide <strong>in</strong> the<br />

pathogenesis <strong>of</strong> UC (Christl et al., 1996;Rowan et al., 2010). Hence, consumption <strong>of</strong> non‐digestible<br />

carbohydrates can <strong>in</strong>fluence the host <strong>in</strong> different ways, and factors such as population dynamics<br />

and metabolite pathways should be considered when develop<strong>in</strong>g and validat<strong>in</strong>g new prebiotic<br />

candidates.<br />

4.5. Protective effects <strong>of</strong> prebiotics or prebiotic candidates on<br />

<strong>in</strong>flammatory bowel disease<br />

At the time <strong>of</strong> publication <strong>of</strong> this thesis, there have only been a small number <strong>of</strong> human trials<br />

exam<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g prebiotic properties <strong>in</strong> IBD us<strong>in</strong>g non‐digestible carbohydrates, and only a few studies<br />

have used microbiological and immunological analyses to validate the prebiotic effects (Table 4,<br />

based on literature search, 2011‐09‐14). Due to the small number <strong>of</strong> human trials found <strong>in</strong><br />

literature exam<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g prebiotic properties <strong>of</strong> non‐digestible carbohydrates <strong>in</strong> UC, Table 4 lists trials<br />

us<strong>in</strong>g both UC and Crohn’s disease (CD) patients. CD is another ma<strong>in</strong> type <strong>of</strong> IBD. As described<br />

previously, UC causes cont<strong>in</strong>uous mucosal <strong>in</strong>flammation, which is restricted to the colon (section<br />

3.1). However, CD causes discont<strong>in</strong>uous transmural <strong>in</strong>flammation and affects any part <strong>of</strong> the GI<br />

tract but has a predilection for the term<strong>in</strong>al ileum (Blumberg and Strober, 2001). The classical<br />

symptoms <strong>of</strong> patients <strong>in</strong> relapse such as diarrhea, rectal bleed<strong>in</strong>g, and abdom<strong>in</strong>al pa<strong>in</strong> are the<br />

same for both UC and CD (Farrell and Peppercorn, 2002;Ardizzone, 2003;Strober et al., 2007).<br />

Human trials have shown protective effects <strong>of</strong> prebiotic candidates demonstrated by reduced<br />

disease activity, reduced levels <strong>of</strong> pro‐<strong>in</strong>flammatory cytok<strong>in</strong>es and <strong>in</strong>creased levels <strong>of</strong> anti‐<br />

<strong>in</strong>flammatory cytok<strong>in</strong>es (Kanauchi et al., 2003;Hanai et al., 2004;L<strong>in</strong>dsay et al., 2006;Casellas et al.,<br />

2007;Faghfoori et al., 2011). However conflict<strong>in</strong>g results have been described, <strong>in</strong> which prebiotic<br />

consumption was unable to implement any protective effects (Hafer et al., 2007;Benjam<strong>in</strong> et al.,<br />

2011). However, the study by Hafer et al. (2007) did demonstrate that prebiotic consumption<br />

could <strong>in</strong>crease the quality <strong>of</strong> life <strong>in</strong> the UC patients but not <strong>in</strong> CD patients. This suggests that the<br />

protective effect <strong>of</strong> prebiotics may differ depend<strong>in</strong>g on type <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>test<strong>in</strong>al disease, hence site <strong>of</strong><br />

<strong>in</strong>flammation.<br />

The number <strong>of</strong> animal studies validat<strong>in</strong>g the protective effects <strong>of</strong> prebiotics <strong>in</strong> experimental colitis<br />

is somewhat higher than human trials. Some <strong>of</strong> them found <strong>in</strong> literature are listed <strong>in</strong> Table 5.<br />

Several <strong>of</strong> these <strong>in</strong> vivo studies us<strong>in</strong>g rats or mice with <strong>in</strong>duced colitis have demonstrated that

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