Comparative Study on the Effects of Selenium-Enriched Yeasts with Different Selenomethionine Contents on Gut Microbiota and Metabolites

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 26; no. 7; p. 3315
• Main Authors: Zhang, Zijian, Zhu, Li, Zhang, Hongtao, Yu, Dan, Yin, Zhongwei, Zhan, Xiaobei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 02.04.2025; MDPI
• Subjects: Acids; Amino acids; Enzymes; Fatty acids; Fermentation; Gastrointestinal Microbiome - drug effects; Gut microbiota; Humans; Immune system; Male; Metabolism; Metabolites; Microbiota; Microbiota (Symbiotic organisms); Physiology; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - metabolism; Selenium; Selenium - metabolism; Selenium - pharmacology; Selenomethionine - metabolism; Selenomethionine - pharmacology; Yeast; United States; Germany; selenomethionine; selenium-enriched yeast; short-chain fatty acids; gut microbiota
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms26073315

Selenium is an essential trace element for human health, but it mainly exists in an inorganic form that cannot be directly absorbed by the body. Brewer’s yeast efficiently converts inorganic selenium into bioavailable organic selenium, making selenium-enriched yeast highly significant for human health research. Selenomethionine (SeM) is an important indicator for evaluating the quality of selenium-enriched yeast. Brewer’s yeast was selected as the experimental subject, and the digestion of this yeast (Brewer’s yeast) was simulated using an in vitro biomimetic gastrointestinal reactor to evaluate the effects of selenium-enriched yeast with various SeM levels on the gut flora of a healthy population. The experimental design comprised normal yeast (control group, OR), yeast containing moderate SeM levels (selenium-enriched group, SE), yeast containing high SeM levels (high-selenium group, MU), and a commercially available group comprising selenium-enriched yeast tablets (MA). The MU group exhibited a significantly higher concentration of short-chain fatty acids than the OR and MA groups during 48 h of fermentation, with significant differences observed (p < 0.05). Sequencing results revealed that the MU group showed significantly increased relative abundances of Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria, while exhibiting a decreased ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes, which may simultaneously affect multiple metabolic pathways in vivo. These findings support the theory that selenium-enriched yeast with a high SeM has a more positive effect on human health compared with traditional yeast and offer new ideas for the development and application of selenium-enriched yeast.