ARS | Publication request: Intestinal infections and prebiotics: the roles of oligosaccharides in promoting health

Submitted to: Functional Foods
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: February 15, 2011
Publication Date: September 1, 2011
Citation: Hotchkiss, A.T., Buddington, R. 2011. Intestinal infections and prebiotics: the roles of oligosaccharides in promoting health. Functional Foods. 3(3):119-134.

Technical Abstract: Prebiotic oligosaccharides exert activity against pathogens partly by stimulating the growth and/or activity of commensal bacteria that provide health benefits (lower pH, bacteriocin production, immune system modulation, competitive exclusion). This review describes alternative mechanisms of action whereby prebiotics enhance host defenses against acute infections as well as chronic diseases by directly inhibiting bacterial adhesion, invasion, and toxin binding to epitheial receptors, and by potentially modulating gene expression by host cells. Emphasis is placed on human milk and pectic oligosaccharides as animal and plant examples of prebiotics with alternative functions in enhancing resistance to gastrointestinal infections. Many of these oligosaccharides have immunomodulating activities that, in combination with prebiotic influences, contribute to improving host health. Pectic oligosaccharides, which mimic acidic human milk oligosaccharides, modulated Th1/Th2 immune responses in an influenza vaccine model and decreased allergic asthma parameters in mice.