intestines damaged by a high-fat diet, normal recovery through intake of butyric acid bacteria

Sep 10, 2024

intestines damaged by a high-fat diet, normal recovery through intake of butyric acid bacteria
data photo source=Pixabay
A mechanism has been announced to normalize the imbalance of intestinal microorganisms caused by a high-fat diet through the intake of butyricum butyricum.

This is the result of the research team of Professor Kim Na-young of the Department of Gastroenterology at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital (Professor Choi Yong-hoon, Researcher Nam Ryeong-hee, and Dr. Choi Soo-in).

Recently, the incidence of young colorectal cancer in Korea's 20s and 40s is 12.9 per 100,000 people, ranking first in the world, and high-fat diets due to westernization of eating habits are pointed out as the main cause. Excessive fat intake, known to increase the risk of metabolic diseases such as obesity, fatty liver, and dyslipidemia, is the cause of various colon diseases.

High-fat diets are known to cause imbalance in intestinal microorganisms and increase inflammatory substances to cause colon disease, and active research is being conducted to develop probiotics (beneficial bacteria that benefit the human body) that treat intestinal imbalances caused by such high-fat diets.

In particular, butyric acid is attracting attention in that it can prevent the settlement of harmful bacteria in the intestine, perform anti-inflammatory, immune control, and maintenance, and improve intestinal function. Noting that butyric acid is produced by clostridium butyricum, the research team conducted a study to find out the efficacy and mechanisms of feeding butyric acid bacteria to a mouse test model on a high-fat diet to restore the imbalance of intestinal microorganisms caused by excessive fat intake.

The study was conducted by dividing the mouse experiment model into three groups: ▶ general diet ▶ high fat diet ▶ high fat diet and butyric acid bacteria, and comparing and observing changes in colon mucosa, feces, and intestinal microorganisms for eight weeks.

As a result, in the group that first practiced a high-fat diet, inflammatory substances were significantly increased in the colonic mucosa, fat was deposited, and butyric acid and butyric acid-producing bacteria, which increase intestinal beneficial bacteria, were reduced compared to the general group.

In addition, the high-fat diet group was found to have increased intestinal permeability and decreased carbohydrate and energy metabolism. This means that a high-fat diet induces changes in intestinal microorganisms, which in turn adversely affects the intestinal metabolic process, resulting in inhibition of carbohydrate and energy metabolism.

On the other hand, in the group administered butyric acid bacteria at the same time as the high-fat diet, harmful changes caused by the high-fat diet showed a normal recovery pattern. Inflammatory substances decreased, butyric acid in feces increased, and intestinal permeability and energy metabolism recovery improved.

In particular, these results were prominent in the male group, meaning that gender differences must be considered when future studies on the treatment of intestinal microbial imbalances by high-fat diets and when butyric acid bacteria are used as therapeutic agents.

The results of this study are significant in that they have confirmed the possibility of butyric acid bacteria as probiotics that can contribute not only to the recovery of intestinal health but also to the improvement of metabolic diseases such as childhood obesity.

Professor Kim Na-young confirmed that a high-fat diet causes an imbalance of intestinal microorganisms and damages the metabolic system, and that butyric acid bacteria played a major role in restoring it to its original state"Recently, due to excessive fat intake, various severe bowel diseases such as colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and metabolic diseases such as childhood obesity are on the rise, and the possibility of butyric acid bacteria was confirmed as a probiotic to prevent and treat them."," he said.

Meanwhile, the findings were published in the international academic journals 'Digital Diseases and Sciences' and 'Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Mobility'.



intestines damaged by a high-fat diet, normal recovery through intake of butyric acid bacteria
From left, Professor Na-young Kim, Professor Yong-hoon Choi, Researcher Ryung-hee Nam, Dr. Soo-in Choi, from the department of gastroenterology at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital


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