double-blind placebo-controlled study to establish the bifidogenic dose of inulin in healthy humans

• Published in: European journal of clinical nutrition Vol. 61; no. 10; pp. 1189 - 1195
• Main Authors: Kolida, S, Meyer, D, Gibson, G.R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.10.2007; Nature Publishing; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Adult; adults; Antibiotics; Bacteroides; Bifidobacterium; Bifidobacterium - drug effects; Bifidobacterium - growth & development; Bifidobacterium - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Clinical Nutrition; clinical trials; Clostridium; Colon; Colon - metabolism; Colon - microbiology; Colony Count, Microbial; Cross-Over Studies; dosage; dose response; Dose-response effects; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Double-Blind Method; Double-blind studies; Drug dosages; drug effects; England; Enterococcus; Enzymes; Epidemiology; Feces; Feces - microbiology; Female; Fermentation; Fluorescence; Fluorescence in situ hybridization; Food; growth & development; Humans; Hybridization; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; Ingestion; Internal Medicine; intestinal microorganisms; Inulin; Inulin - pharmacology; Lactobacillus; Male; Maltodextrin; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Men; Metabolic Diseases; metabolism; microbiology; Microbiota; Microorganisms; Motility; Nutrition research; original-article; pharmacology; Placebos; Prebiotics; Prevotella; Probiotics; Public Health; species diversity; Subgroups; temporal variation; women; England; United Kingdom > UK; Netherlands; inulin; FISH; colon; prebiotic; Human; Bifidobacterium; Healthy subject; Nutrition; Digestive system; Eubacteria; Gut; Bifidobacteriaceae; Actinobacteridae; Inulin; Double blind study; Actinobacteria; Bacteria; Bifidobacteriales; Colon; Prebiotic; Dose
• ISSN: 0954-3007; 1476-5640
• DOI: 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602636

Objective: To evaluate the bifidogenic efficacy of two inulin doses in healthy human adults. Design: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover human study. Setting: Food Microbial Sciences Unit, The University of Reading, Reading, UK. Subjects: Thirty healthy volunteers, 15 men, 15 women (age range 19-35). Interventions: Subjects consumed a chocolate drink containing placebo (maltodextrin, 8 g/day), 5 g/day inulin and 8 g/day inulin for a 2-week treatment period. Each treatment was followed by a 1-week washout at the end of which volunteers progressed to the next treatment. Faecal samples were obtained at the start of the study (baseline) and at the end of each treatment and washout period. Fluorescent in situ hybridization was used to monitor populations of Bifidobacterium genus, Bacteroides - Prevotella, Lactobacillus - Enterococcus and Clostridium perfringens - histolyticum subgroup. Results: Bifidobacterial levels increased significantly upon ingestion of both the low (9.780.29 log10 cells/g faeces, P<0.05) and the high inulin dose (9.790.38 log10 cells/g faeces, P=0.05) compared to placebo (9.640.23 log10 cells/g faeces). Conclusions: Both inulin doses exhibited a bifidogenic effect but a higher volunteer percentage responded to the high dose. A dose response effect was not observed but the magnitude of increase in bifidobacteria levels depended on their initial numbers. The higher the initial concentrations the smaller was the increase upon ingestion of the active treatments.