Effect of prebiotic oligosaccharides on bowel habit and the gut microbiota in children with functional constipation (Inside study): study protocol for a randomised, placebo-controlled, multi-centre trial.

Background: Functional constipation (FC) in children is a common gastrointestinal disorder with a worldwide-pooled prevalence of 9.5%. Complaints include infrequent bowel movements, painful defecation due to hard and/or large stools, faecal incontinence, and abdominal pain.

What are Normal Defecation Patterns in Healthy Children up to Four Years of Age? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: To summarize available data on defecation frequency and stool consistency of healthy children up to age 4 in order to estimate normal references values.

Study Design: Systematic review including cross-sectional, observational, and interventional studies published in English, that reported on defecation frequency and/or stool consistency in healthy children 0-4 years old.

Results: Seventy-five studies were included with 16 393 children and 40 033 measurements of defecation frequency and/or stool consistency.

The Modified Bristol Stool Form Scale: A Reliable and Valid Tool to Score Stool Consistency in Dutch (Non)Toilet-trained Toddlers.

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess whether the modified Bristol Stool Form Scale (m-BSFS) is reliable, valid and user-friendly to use by parents, grandparents, and day childcare employees to evaluate stool consistency in toilet and nontoilet-trained toddlers in the Netherlands.

Study Design: Translation to Dutch and validity of the m-BSFS (scoring 32 general stool pictures) for 1 to 3 year old toddlers (n = 89) was evaluated by parents, grandparents, and day childcare employees. A subgroup of participants scored an additional 7 pictures of stools in a diaper to validate the m-BSFS for non-toilet-trained toddlers (n = 16).

The effect of fiber and prebiotics on children's gastrointestinal disorders and microbiome.

The bacteria received upon birth are the start of colonization of the approximately 10 bacteria that are present in the mature human gastrointestinal tract, better known as the microbiota. The gut microbiota is implicated in gastrointestinal health, nutrient metabolism and benefits such as prevention of infection. Dietary fiber, including prebiotics, escape digestion in the small intestine and reach the colon intact, where they are partially or completely fermented by the gut microbiota.

Characterizing microbiota-independent effects of oligosaccharides on intestinal epithelial cells: insight into the role of structure and size : Structure-activity relationships of non-digestible oligosaccharides.

Purpose: The direct effects of galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), including Vivinal GOS syrup (VGOS) and purified Vivinal GOS (PGOS), on the epithelial integrity and corresponding interleukin-8 (IL-8/CXCL8) release were examined in a Caco-2 cell model for intestinal barrier dysfunction. To investigate structure-activity relationships, the effects of individual DP fractions of VGOS were evaluated. Moreover, the obtained results with GOS were compared with Caco-2 monolayers incubated with fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and inulin.

Sialylated galacto-oligosaccharides and 2'-fucosyllactose reduce necrotising enterocolitis in neonatal rats.

Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) is one of the most frequent and fatal intestinal disorders in preterm infants and has very limited treatment options. Breast-fed infants are at a 6-10-fold lower NEC risk than formula-fed infants, and we have previously shown that human milk oligosaccharides (HMO) improved survival and reduced pathology in a rat NEC model. The HMO disialyllacto-N-tetraose (DSLNT) was most effective, and sialylation was shown to be essential for its protective effect.

Oligosaccharides in Urine, Blood, and Feces of Piglets Fed Milk Replacer Containing Galacto-oligosaccharides.

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are absorbed into the blood (about 1% of the HMO intake) and subsequently excreted in urine, where they may protect the infant from pathogen infection. As dietary galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) have partial structural similarities with HMOs, this study investigated the presence of GOS and oligosaccharides originating from milk replacer in blood serum, urine, and cecal and fecal samples of piglets, as a model for human infants. Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and capillary electrophoresis with fluorescence detection, oligosaccharides originating from piglet diet including 3'-sialyllactose and specific GOS ranging from degree of polymerization 3 to 6 were detected in blood serum and in urine of piglets.

Galacto-oligosaccharides Protect the Intestinal Barrier by Maintaining the Tight Junction Network and Modulating the Inflammatory Responses after a Challenge with the Mycotoxin Deoxynivalenol in Human Caco-2 Cell Monolayers and B6C3F1 Mice.

Background: The integrity of the epithelial layer in the gastrointestinal tract protects organisms from exposure to luminal antigens, which are considered the primary cause of chronic intestinal inflammation and allergic responses. The common wheat-associated fungal toxin deoxynivalenol acts as a specific disruptor of the intestinal tight junction network and hence might contribute to the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases.

Objective: The aim of the current study was to assess whether defined galacto-oligosaccharides (GOSs) can prevent deoxynivalenol-induced epithelial dysfunction.

Functional role and mechanisms of sialyllactose and other sialylated milk oligosaccharides.

Human milk is a rich source of oligosaccharides. Acidic oligosaccharides, such as sialyllactose (SL), contain sialic acid (SA) residues. In human milk, approximately 73% of SA is bound to oligosaccharides, whereas only 3% is present in free form.

Impact of galacto-oligosaccharides on the gut microbiota composition and metabolic activity upon antibiotic treatment during in vitro fermentation.

Prebiotics are considered to have potential to reduce disturbances in the gut microbiota induced by antibiotics. Results in literature are, however, not consistent. The current in vitro study conducted in a fermentation screening platform allowed to unambiguously compare the impact of galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) on adult gut microbiota composition and activity upon treatment with four antibiotics at two doses.

Galacto-oligosaccharides increase calcium absorption and gut bifidobacteria in young girls: a double-blind cross-over trial.

Adolescence is a time for rapid growth that represents an opportunity to influence peak bone mass. Prebiotic agents, such as galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), increase Ca absorption in animal models and postmenopausal women. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the dose-response relationship of GOS supplementation on Ca absorption during growth and to assess changes in colonic microbiota to better understand the mechanism by which GOS is acting.

Dietary galacto-oligosaccharides and calcium: effects on energy intake, fat-pad weight and satiety-related, gastrointestinal hormones in rats.

Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) are carbohydrates that are fermented by colonic microbiota. The present study examined effects of a 3-week dietary enrichment with 6 % (w/w) GOS on parameters of energy balance in forty-three male Wistar rats. GOS was tested with two doses of calcium phosphate (30 and 100 mmol/kg), known to differently affect colonic fermentation.

Galacto-oligosaccharides have prebiotic activity in a dynamic in vitro colon model using a (13)C-labeling technique.

Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) are considered to be prebiotic, although the contribution of specific members of the microbiota to GOS fermentation and the exact microbial metabolites that are produced upon GOS fermentation are largely unknown. We aimed to determine this using uniformly (13)C-labeled GOS. The normal (control) medium and unlabeled or (13)C-labeled GOS was added to a dynamic, validated, in vitro model of the large-intestine containing an adult-type microbiota.

Galactooligosaccharides improve mineral absorption and bone properties in growing rats through gut fermentation.

Galactooligosaccharides (GOS), prebiotic nondigestible oligosaccharides derived from lactose, have the potential for improving mineral balance and bone properties. This study examined the dose-response effect of GOS supplementation on calcium and magnesium absorption, mineral retention, bone properties, and gut microbiota in growing rats. Seventy-five 4-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into one of five treatment groups (n = 15/group) and fed a diet containing 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8% GOS by weight for 8 weeks.

Efficacy of various dietary calcium salts to improve intestinal resistance to Salmonella infection in rats.

Previous animal and human studies have shown protective effects of Ca on the resistance to enteropathogenic infections. Most interventions were performed with calcium phosphate and little is known about the protective effect of other dietary sources of Ca. Therefore, we investigated the efficacy of several Ca salts to enhance intestinal resistance to Salmonella enteritidis infection.