Lesson 2: SCFA

Short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) and lactic acid produced by bacterial fermentation of prebiotics and dietary fibers lower the intestinal pH and maintain gut homeostasis (Scharlau et al., 2009). Butyrate, the most popular and well understood SCFA, directly acts on colonocytes and regulates apoptosis, cellular differentiation and histone deactylation (Cho et al., 2014; Corrêa-Oliveira et al., 2016). SCFAs assist in gut homeostasis by their immunomodulatory functions as well as by maintaining metabolism, proliferation, differentiation and promotion at low pH, favoring beneficial microbes with the concomitant reduction in pathogen bacterial growth and viability (Nepelska et al., 2012). Butyrate significantly inhibited the proliferation and induced apoptosis in human colon tumor cells (Canani et al., 2011). Similar results were reported for resistant starch type-3 Novelose 330 in vivo (Vannucci et al., 2008). Fermentative products of high amylose starch diet aided in the detoxification of electrophilic products associated with oxidative stress (Uronis et al., 2009). Fermentation products also led to improved intestinal monolayer integrity in Caco-2 treated with deoxycholic acid (Vannucci et al., 2008).

Listen to 15 Minute Matrix Podcast on Short Chain Fatty Acid