Xylo-oligosaccharides alone or in synbiotic combination with Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis induce bifidogenesis and modulate markers of immune function in healthy adults: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, factorial cross-over study

British Journal of Nutrition

Mar 2014

DOI: 10.1017/S0007114513004261

Citations:134

Influential Citations:12

Interventional (Human) Studies

Enhanced Details

Methods

Healthy adults aged 25-65 years with BMI 20-30 kg/m2; good general health; double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, factorial cross-over design; 44 volunteers recruited, 41 completed.

Intervention

XOS: 8 g/d for 21 days; two sachets daily, dissolved in water, milk or fruit juice. Bi-07: 10^9 CFU/d for 21 days; two sachets daily, dissolved in water, milk or fruit juice. XOS + Bi-07: combination of 8 g/d XOS with 10^9 CFU/d Bi-07 for 21 days; two sachets daily, dissolved in water, milk or fruit juice. Maltodextrin (MDX) placebo: 21 days; two sachets daily, dissolved in water, milk or fruit juice.

Results

XOS alone increased daily bowel movements, increased faecal bifidobacterial counts and fasting HDL concentrations, and improved vitality and happiness. The synbiotic combination reduced analgesic use compared with placebo. Bi-07 alone increased faecal B. lactis, lowered LPS-stimulated IL-4 and salivary IgA, and increased IL-6. XOS alone lowered IL-10 and reduced CD16/56 on NK T cells; XOS + Bi-07 reduced CD19 on B cells. The synbiotic showed additive but not synergistic effects on gut microbiota; overall, XOS and Bi-07 produce modest but favorable changes in gut microbiota, lipid profile, mood, and some immune markers in healthy adults. Authors suggest the synbiotic may confer additional benefits via discrete Bi-07 effects, though clear synergy on microbiota is not demonstrated.

Limitations

Carry-over effects observed for HDL; HDL analysis relied on first-treatment period data. Small sample size with dropouts. Maltodextrin placebo may influence some outcomes (HDL). Findings are limited to healthy adults and short-term use; applicability to disease states or long-term effects is unknown.

Abstract

Prebiotics, probiotics and synbiotics are dietary ingredients with the potential to influence health and mucosal and systemic immune function by altering the composition of the gut microbiota. In the present study, a candidate prebiotic (xylo-oligosaccharide, XOS, 8 g/d), probiotic (Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis Bi-07, 109 colony-forming units (CFU)/d) or synbiotic (8 g XOS+109 CFU Bi-07/d) was given to healthy adults (25–65 years) for 21 d. The aim was to identify the effect of the supplements on bowel habits, self-reported mood, composition of the gut microbiota, blood lipid concentrations and immune function. XOS supplementation increased mean bowel movements per d (P= 0·009), but did not alter the symptoms of bloating, abdominal pain or flatulence or the incidence of any reported adverse events compared with maltodextrin supplementation. XOS supplementation significantly increased participant-reported vitality (P= 0·003) and happiness (P= 0·034). Lowest reported use of analgesics was observed during the XOS+Bi-07 supplementation period (P= 0·004). XOS supplementation significantly increased faecal bifidobacterial counts (P= 0·008) and fasting plasma HDL concentrations (P= 0·005). Bi-07 supplementation significantly increased faecal B. lactis content (P= 0·007), lowered lipopolysaccharide-stimulated IL-4 secretion in whole-blood cultures (P= 0·035) and salivary IgA content (P= 0·040) and increased IL-6 secretion (P= 0·009). XOS supplementation resulted in lower expression of CD16/56 on natural killer T cells (P= 0·027) and lower IL-10 secretion (P= 0·049), while XOS and Bi-07 supplementation reduced the expression of CD19 on B cells (XOS × Bi-07, P= 0·009). The present study demonstrates that XOS induce bifidogenesis, improve aspects of the plasma lipid profile and modulate the markers of immune function in healthy adults. The provision of XOS+Bi-07 as a synbiotic may confer further benefits due to the discrete effects of Bi-07 on the gut microbiota and markers of immune function. show less