Delzenne Nathalie M, Williams Christine M
UCL-Université Catholique de Louvain, School of Pharmacy, Brussels, Belgium.
Curr Opin Lipidol. 2002 Feb;13(1):61-7. doi: 10.1097/00041433-200202000-00009.
Prebiotics are defined as nondigestible food ingredients that beneficially affect the host by selectively stimulating the growth or the activity of one or a limited number of bacteria (bifidobacteria, lactobacilli) in the colon. Dietary fructans are nutritionally interesting oligosaccharides that strictly conform to the definition of prebiotics and (in view of experimental studies in animals and of less numerous studies in humans) exhibit interesting serum or hepatic lipid lowering properties. Other nondigestible/fermentable nutrients, which also modulate intestinal flora activity, exhibit cholesterol or triglyceride lowering effects. Are changes in intestinal bacterial flora composition or fermentation activity responsible for those effects? What is the future of prebiotics in the nutritional control of lipidaemia and cardiovascular disease risk in humans? Those questions only receive partial response in the present review because studies of the systemic effects of prebiotics are still in their infancy, and require fundamental research devoted to elucidating the biochemical and physiological events that allow prebiotics to exert systemic effects on lipid metabolism.
益生元被定义为不可消化的食物成分，通过选择性刺激结肠中一种或有限数量的细菌（双歧杆菌、乳酸杆菌）的生长或活性，对宿主产生有益影响。膳食果聚糖是具有营养意义的寡糖，严格符合益生元的定义，并且（鉴于动物实验研究以及较少的人体研究）具有有趣的降低血清或肝脏脂质的特性。其他不可消化/可发酵的营养素，也能调节肠道菌群活性，具有降低胆固醇或甘油三酯的作用。肠道细菌菌群组成或发酵活性的变化是这些作用的原因吗？益生元在人类血脂异常和心血管疾病风险的营养控制方面的未来发展如何？在本综述中，这些问题仅得到部分解答，因为关于益生元全身效应的研究仍处于起步阶段，需要开展基础研究以阐明使益生元对脂质代谢产生全身效应的生化和生理过程。
