A review on the use of prebiotics in ulcerative colitis

James M Kennedy; Aminda De Silva; Gemma E Walton; Glenn R Gibson

doi:10.1016/j.tim.2023.11.007

A review on the use of prebiotics in ulcerative colitis

Trends Microbiol. 2023 Dec 7:S0966-842X(23)00325-6. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2023.11.007. Online ahead of print.

Authors

James M Kennedy¹, Aminda De Silva², Gemma E Walton³, Glenn R Gibson³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, The University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AP, UK; Department of Gastroenterology, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, Reading, RG1 5AN, UK. Electronic address: j.kennedy@pgr.reading.ac.uk.
² Department of Gastroenterology, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, Reading, RG1 5AN, UK.
³ Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, The University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AP, UK.

PMID: 38065786
DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2023.11.007

Abstract

The gut microbiome in the inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis (UC), is different to that of healthy controls. Patients with UC have relative reductions in abundance of Firmicutes and Bifidobacterium in the colon, and an increase in sulfate-reducing bacteria. Prebiotics are dietary substrates which are selectively metabolised by the human colonic microbiota to confer health benefits to the host. This review explores our current understanding of the potential benefits of prebiotics on various clinical, biochemical, and microbiological endpoints in UC, including new perspectives gained from recent studies in the field. This review looks to the future and highlights the need for appropriately designed trials to explore this potentially exciting new avenue for the treatment of UC.

Keywords: galactooligosaccharide; gut microbiome; human milk oligosaccharide; inflammatory bowel disease; prebiotic; ulcerative colitis.

Publication types

Review