Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-12T22:02:34.575Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Caecal and faecal short-chain fatty acids and stool output in rats fed on diets containing non-starch polysaccharides

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

C. A. Edwards  and
M. A. Eastwood
C. A. Edwards
Affiliation:
Gastrointestinal Laboratory, Edinburgh University, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU
M. A. Eastwood
Affiliation:
Gastrointestinal Laboratory, Edinburgh University, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The exact mechanisms by which non-starch polysaccharides increase stool output are unknown. In the present study the hypothesis that the site of fermentation and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) accumulation is related to the action of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) on stool output was tested. The basal diet (45 g NSP/kg) of forty-three male Wistar rats was supplemented with 50 g/kg of either guar, karaya, tragacanth, gellan, xanthan or ispaghula for 28 d. A further twenty-three rats were maintained on the basal diet for the same time period. Faeces were then collected over 2 d and caecal contents obtained post-mortem. Caecal and faecal wet and dry weights and SCFA were measured. Each supplement had a different effect on the caecal and faecal contents but they appeared to fall into three groups when compared with the basal diet. In group 1, guar gum affected only caecal SCFA. It had no effect on stool output or faecal SCFA. In group 2, karaya increased caecal SCFA and tragacanth, karaya and xanthan increased faecal SCFA and faecal water. In group 3, ispaghula and gellan had no consistent effect on caecal or faecal SCFA concentrations but increased Total faecal SCFA output and increased faecal wet and dry weight. Although the knowledge that SCFA are rapidly absorbed in the large intestine has led us to believe that they play no role in determining faecal output, these results suggest that in some cases where NSP are slowly fermented, and increase faecal SCFA, the role of the SCFA may need to be reassessed.

Keywords

Non-starch polysaccharidesShort-chain fatty acidsCaecal fermentationStool output
Type
Non-starch polysaccharides, fermentation and stool output
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 73 , Issue 5 , May 1995 , pp. 773 - 781
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1995

References

Adiotomre, J., Eastwood, M. A., Edwards, C. A. & Brydon, W. G. (1990) Dietary fibre: in vitro methods that anticipate nutrition and metabolic activity in humans. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 52, 128–134.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chauve, A., Devroede, G. & Bastin, E. (1976) Intraluminal pressures during perfusion of the human colon in situ. Gastroenterology 70, 336–340.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edwards, C. A, Bowen, J., Brydon, W. G. & Eastwood, M. A. (1992) The effects of ispaghula on rat caecal fermentation and stool output. British Journal of Nutrition 68, 473–482.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edwards, C. A. & Eastwood, M. A. (1992) Comparison of the effect of ispaghula and wheat bran on rat caecal and colonic fermentation. Gut 33, 1229–1233.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Englyst, H. N. & Cummings, J. H. (1984) A simplified method for the measurement of total non starch polysaccharides by gas liquid chromatography of constituent sugars as alditol acetates. Analyst 109, 937–942.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forsythe, W. A., Chenoweth, W. L. & Bennink, M. R. (1978) Laxation and serum cholesterol in rats fed plant fibers. Journal of Food Science 43, 1470–1476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobs, L. R. & Lupton, J. R. (1986) Relationship between colonic luminal pH, cell proliferation and colon carcinogenesis in 1,2-dimethylyhydrazine treated rats fed high fiber diets. Cancer Research 46, 1727–1734.Google ScholarPubMed
Kirwan, W. O., Smith, A. N., Mitchell, W. D., Falconer, J. D. & Eastwood, M. A. (1975) Bile acids and colonic motility in the rabbit and human. Gut 16, 894–900.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNeil, N. I., Cummings, J. H. & James, W. P. T. (1978) Short chain fatty acid absorption by the human large intestine. Gut 19, 819–822.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roediger, W. E. W., Heyworth, M., Willoughby, P., Piris, J., Moore, A. & Truelove, S. C. (1982) Luminal ions and short chain fatty acids as markers of functional activity of the mucosa in ulcerative colitis. Journal of Clinical Pathology 35, 323–326.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spiller, G. A., Chernoff, M. C., Hill, R. A., Gates, J. E., Nassar, J. J. & Shipley, E. A. (1980) Effect of purified cellulose, pectin and a low residue diet on fecal volatile fatty acids, transit time and fecal weight in humans. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 33, 734–739.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squires, P. E., Rumsey, R. D. E., Edwards, C. A. & Read, N. W. (1992) Effect of short chain fatty acids on contractile activity and fluid flow in rat colon in vitro. American Journal of Physiology 262, G813–G817.Google ScholarPubMed
Stephen, A. M. & Cummings, J. H. (1980) The microbial contribution to human faecal mass. Journal of Medical Microbiology 3, 45–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Svendsen, P. (1972) Inhibition of cecal motility in sheep by volatile fatty acids. Nordic Veterinary Medicines 24, 393–396.Google ScholarPubMed
Tomlin, J. & Read, N. W. (1988) Laxative properties of plastic particles. British Medical Journal 297, 1175–1176.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Soest, P. J., Jeraci, J., Fosse, T., Wrick, K. & Ehle, F. (1982) Comparative fermentation of fibre in man and other animals. In Fibre in Humans and Animal Nutrition, pp. 75–80 [Wallace, C.R. and Bells, L., editors]. Wellington: The Royal Society of New Zealand.Google Scholar
Vernia, P., Gnaedinger, A., Hauck, W. & Breuer, R. I. (1988) Organic anions and the diarrhoea of inflammatory bowel disease. Digestive Diseases and Sciences 33, 1353–1358.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wyatt, G. M., Gee, J. & Johnson, I. T. (1988) Intestinal microflora and gastrointestinal adaptation in the rat in response to non-digestible dietary polysaccharides. British Journal of Nutrition 60, 197–207.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yajima, T. (1985) Contractile effect of short chain fatty acids on the isolated colon of the rat. Journal of Physiology 368, 667–678.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed