AUTHOR=Looijesteijn Ellen , Schoemaker Marieke H. , van den Belt Maartje , Hester Eric R. , Kortman Guus A. M. , Viskaal-van Dongen Mirre , Nauta Arjen 

TITLE=A double-blind intervention trial in healthy women demonstrates the beneficial impact on Bifidobacterium with low dosages of prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharides

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2024.1440319

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2024.1440319

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Introduction</title><p>Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) are well-substantiated prebiotic substrates. Multiple studies have demonstrated a positive impact of GOS on gut microbiota composition and activity, so-far mainly related to <italic>Bifidobacterium</italic>. However, data on the beneficial impact at lower dosages in a healthy female population are limited. The primary aim of the current study was to reveal the effect of low dosages (1.3 and 2.0 g) of GOS on fecal <italic>Bifidobacterium</italic> abundance in healthy women. Other outcomes included the effect of low dosage of GOS on overall fecal microbiota composition and on self-perceived GI comfort, sleep quality and mental wellbeing.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Method</title><p>Eighty-eight healthy women (42–70 years, BMI 18.7–30 kg/m<sup>2</sup>) were included in this randomized, parallel, double-blind study of 6 weeks. The participants were stratified for fiber intake, BMI and age and randomized to consume either 1.3 or 2.0 g of GOS per day for 3 weeks after a control period of 3 weeks without any intervention. Fecal samples were collected for shotgun metagenomics sequencing at the start (t = −3) and end (t = 0) of the control period and at the end of the intervention period (t = 3). Self-perceived gut comfort, sleep quality, and mental wellbeing were assessed weekly. Hierarchical clustering of principal components was applied to data collected from study participants.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Results</title><p>The relative abundance of <italic>Bifidobacterium</italic> in feces increased significantly after 3 weeks of daily consumption of both 1.3 g (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01) and 2.0 g GOS (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01). This was accompanied by a significant shift in the overall microbiota composition for the dosage of 2.0 g GOS (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01). Participants that showed a larger increase in <italic>Bifidobacterium</italic> in the intervention period compared to the change in <italic>Bifidobacterium</italic> in the control period, defined as responders, showed a significant overall difference in initial fecal microbiota composition as compared to non-responders (<italic>p</italic> = 0.04) and a trend towards lower baseline levels of <italic>Bifidobacterium</italic> in responders (<italic>p</italic> = 0.10).</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>Daily consumption of a low dose of GOS can lead to an increase in the relative abundance of <italic>Bifidobacterium</italic> in feces of healthy women. Additionally, with 2.0 g GOS, the enrichment of <italic>Bifidobacterium</italic> is accompanied with a shift in the overall microbiota composition.</p><p><bold>Clinical trial registration</bold>: <ext-link xlink:href="http://clinicaltrials.gov" ext-link-type="uri" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">clinicaltrials.gov</ext-link>, identifier NCT05762965.</p></sec>