Influence of galacto-oligosaccharide mixture (B-GOS) on gut microbiota, immune parameters and metabonomics in elderly persons
Open accessAbstract
It is recognised that ageing induces various changes to the human colonic microbiota. Most relevant is a reduction in bifidobacteria, which is a health-positive genus. Prebiotics, such as galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), are dietary ingredients that selectively fortify beneficial gut microbial groups. Therefore, they have the potential to reverse the age-related decline in bifidobacteria and modulate associated health parameters. We assessed the effect of GOS mixture (Bimuno (B-GOS)) on gut microbiota, markers of immune function and metabolites in forty elderly (age 65–80 years) volunteers in a randomised, double-blind, placebo (maltodextrin)-controlled, cross-over study. The intervention periods consisted of 10 weeks with daily doses of 5·5 g/d with a 4-week washout period in between. Blood and faecal samples were collected for the analyses of faecal bacterial populations and immune and metabolic biomarkers. B-GOS consumption led to significant increases in bacteroides and bifidobacteria, the latter correlating with increased lactic acid in faecal waters. Higher IL-10, IL-8, natural killer cell activity and C-reactive protein and lower IL-1β were also observed. Administration of B-GOS to elderly volunteers may be useful in positively affecting the microbiota and some markers of immune function associated with ageing.
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B-GOS administration reduced proinflammatory cytokines with increase in IL-10 and IL-8.
“Moreover, they also reported administration of B-GOS® resulted in a reduction in proinflammatory cytokines with an increase in both IL-10 and IL-8, anti-inflammatory cytokines (Vulevic et al., 2015).”
From The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis (2019) · cites this paper as Vulevic et al., 2015
The cytokine-production results report higher IL-10 and IL-8 and lower IL-1β after 10 weeks of B-GOS than placebo. They report no difference in IL-6 or TNF-α, so the claim overstates the reduction in proinflammatory cytokines. The Discussion calls IL-10 anti-inflammatory but describes IL-8 as a neutrophil chemo-attractant, not an anti-inflammatory cytokine. (LLM, conf=0.90)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredB-GOS administration in elderly increased Bacteroides and Bifidobacterium spp. with elevated lactic acid in fecal water.
“Administration of B-GOS® in an elderly population reported a significant increase in Bacteroides and Bifidobacterium spp. with elevated levels of lactic acid in fecal water.”
From The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis (2019) · cites this paper as Vulevic et al., 2015
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Vulevic, J., Juric, A., Walton, G. E., Claus, S. P., Tzortzis, G., Toward, R. E., & Gibson, G. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Reading (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Vulevic, Jelena
- Venue
- British Journal of Nutrition
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2015-07-28
- Volume
- 114
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 586-595
- ISSN
- 0007-1145 (ISSN-L)
- 1475-2662
- OpenAlex
- W2136852526
- Cited by
- 317
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 50 · 2020: 33 · 2019: 27 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 21.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- British Journal Of Nutrition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Reading
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Microbial Metabolites in Food Biotechnology
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Keywords
- galactooligosaccharides, prebiotics, gut microbiota, aging, older adults, Bifidobacterium, Bacteroides, immune function, cytokines, natural killer cells, C-reactive protein, fecal metabolites, lactic acid, metabolomics
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Bacteria, Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium, C-Reactive Protein, Double-Blind Method, Feces, Female, Galactose, Humans, Immune System, Interleukins, Killer Cells, Natural, Male, Oligosaccharides, Biomarkers, Cross-Over Studies, Lactic Acid, Gastrointestinal Tract, Metabolomics, Prebiotics, Microbiota
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