Composition for promoting short-chain fatty acid production

Abstract

To provide a composition for promoting short-chain fatty acid production, which can promote the production of short-chain fatty acids while preserving the balance of bacterial species in the intestinal flora.SOLUTION: Provided is a composition for promoting short-chain fatty acid production that contains glucobrassicin or a derivative thereof.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a composition for promoting the production of short-chain fatty acids.

Background Art

[0002] It has become clear that the balance of bacterial species in the intestinal flora (microflora) plays an important role in maintaining health. Although the intestinal flora is a relatively stable ecosystem, its composition and activity may change under the influence of various factors. Not only does the increase of harmful bacteria due to stress, aging, changes in diet, etc., but also the increase of specific bacteria affects the diversity of the intestinal flora, and there is a risk of disrupting the balance of bacterial species in the intestinal flora by causing a decrease in diversity.

[0003] In recent years, short-chain fatty acids having 6 or less carbon atoms, which are metabolites of intestinal bacteria, have attracted attention not only because they are used as an energy source for epithelial cells, but also because they play an important role in disease prevention and health maintenance. It is known that short-chain fatty acids are produced in the human large intestine by the fermentation of indigestible dietary fibers and oligosaccharides by intestinal bacteria. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an intestinal short-chain fatty acid production promoter characterized by containing cellobiose as an active ingredient.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] The intestinal short-chain fatty acid production promoter of Patent Document 1 not only improves the ability to produce butyric acid or acetic acid as short-chain fatty acids, but also promotes the production of butyric acid or acetic acid by the growth of intestinal bacteria that produce butyric acid or acetic acid. If the bacterial species that produce butyric acid or acetic acid, such as bacteria of the genus Erysipelatoclostridium, bacteria of the genus Parabacteroides, etc., increase too much, the balance of the intestinal flora may be disrupted, leading to diseases such as intestinal toxemia. [Means for Solving the Problems]

[0006] The present invention is based on the finding that glucobrassicin and the like can promote the production of short-chain fatty acids while maintaining the balance of bacterial species in the intestinal flora. Each aspect for solving the above problems will be described.

[0007] The composition for promoting short-chain fatty acid production according to Aspect 1 is characterized by containing glucobrassicin or a derivative thereof. Aspect 2 is the composition for promoting short-chain fatty acid production according to Aspect 1, wherein the glucobrassicin or a derivative thereof is glucobrassicin.

[0008] Aspect 3 is the composition for promoting short-chain fatty acid production according to Aspect 1 or 2, which is used as a food or drink. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to promote the production of short-chain fatty acids while maintaining the balance of bacterial species in the intestinal flora. [Modes for Carrying Out the Invention]

[0010] One embodiment in which the composition for promoting short-chain fatty acid production of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "promoting composition") is embodied will be described. (Glucobrassicin or a derivative thereof) The component contained in the promoting composition of this embodiment is glucobrassicin or its derivative. Representative examples of derivatives of glucobrassicin include indole-3-carbinol. Specific examples of other derivatives of glucobrassicin include, for example, 1-methoxyglucobrassicin (neoglucobrassicin), 4-hydroxyglucobrassicin, 4-methoxyglucobrassicin, 1,4-dimethoxyglucobrassicin, 1-sulfoglucobrassicin, 6'-isosferoylglucobrassicin, diindolylmethane, and the like.

[0011] Glucobrassicin is one of the glucosinolates, which are derivatives of glucose and amino acids. Glucosinolates contained in natural plants are synthesized from predetermined amino acids. Indole-type glucobrassicin is synthesized from tryptophan. Glucobrassicin is abundantly contained in cruciferous plants such as broccoli and cabbage in plants.

[0012] The glucobrassicin or its derivative used in the present invention may be an extract or purified product extracted from a naturally derived plant, or may be a chemically synthesized product. Also, commercially available products may be used. Among glucobrassicin or its derivatives, glucobrassicin is preferred from the viewpoint of being excellent in the effect of promoting the production of short-chain fatty acids while maintaining the balance of bacterial species in the intestinal flora.

[0013] (Application form) The application form of the promoting composition is not particularly limited, and it is applied, for example, as a food composition, a pharmaceutical composition, or a quasi-drug composition. The promoting composition may use the above-mentioned glucobrassicin or its derivative as it is as a raw material for a food composition, a pharmaceutical composition, etc., or may be a product after appropriately blending pharmaceutically or food hygienically acceptable bases, carriers, additives, etc.

[0014] When applying the promoting composition to food compositions such as foods and beverages, it can be applied to, for example, various beverages, composition for food additives, various confectioneries (baked confectioneries such as wafers and biscuits, candies, tablets, etc.), tablets, capsules (soft capsules, hard capsules), breads, various processed foods, jelly-like foods (jelly, agar, jelly-like beverages, etc.), soups, tablets for drinking after dissolving in water, etc. Beverages can be applied to both soft drinks and alcoholic beverages, as well as non-alcoholic beverages. Specific examples of beverages include, for example, vegetable beverages, vegetable and fruit juice beverages, sports drinks, beverages containing vinegar, nutritional drinks, wine, umeshu, various carbonated beverages, powdered beverages (powdered vegetable beverages, etc.). The types of fruit juices to be combined are not particularly limited, and examples include fruit juices derived from citrus fruits such as lemon, grapefruit, mandarin orange, lime, etc., and fruits such as apple, pineapple, prune, grape, blueberry, peach, acai, kiwi, strawberry, mango, ume, etc. The container for filling the beverage can be any commonly used container, and examples include cans, bottles, plastic containers such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles, paper containers, etc. By storing in this way, a beverage with long-term suppression of denaturation and deterioration can be obtained.

[0015] The uses of food compositions are not particularly limited, and examples include so-called (1) general foods, (2) dietary supplements, health supplements, nutritional adjustment foods, health foods such as supplements, (3) foods for specified health use, functional foods, foods with function claims, etc., and (4) special-purpose foods such as foods for patients. When indicating the use in food and beverages, examples include the indications specified by various laws, regulations, guidelines, etc. The indication of use in food and beverages includes not only the indication on the package such as packaging and containers, but also the indication on advertising media such as brochures.

[0016] Examples of the display content of the use of the promoting composition include the promotion, increase, improvement, or suggestion of the production of short-chain fatty acids such as acetic acid. Examples of such suggestions include the display of the improvement of the intestinal environment, the promotion of large intestine peristaltic movement, and the regulation of the in vivo immune response associated with the production or increase of short-chain fatty acids. Here, examples of short-chain fatty acids include acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, isobutyric acid, valeric acid, isovaleric acid, caproic acid, and the like.

[0017] When the promoting composition is used as a pharmaceutical composition or quasi-drug, in addition to the case of administration by ingestion (oral intake), enteral administration or the like can be adopted. The dosage form is not particularly limited, and for example, it may be configured as tablets, pills, powders, liquids, suppositories, suspensions, emulsions, granules, powders, capsules, or the like. When used as a pharmaceutical composition or quasi-drug, examples of pharmaceutically acceptable bases, carriers, and additives include solvents, dispersants, emulsifiers, buffers, stabilizers, excipients, binders, disintegrants, lubricants, and the like.

[0018] (Effects of the present embodiment) The effects of the promoting composition of the present embodiment will be described. (1) The promoting composition of the present embodiment is configured to contain glucobrassicin or its derivative. Therefore, by ingesting the promoting composition, the production of short-chain fatty acids can be promoted while maintaining the balance of the bacterial species of the intestinal flora. More specifically, the production of short-chain fatty acids can be promoted while suppressing the overgrowth of short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria.

[0019] (2) In addition, effects associated with the increased production of short-chain fatty acids, such as the improvement of the intestinal environment, the promotion of large intestine peristaltic movement, the regulation of the in vivo immune response, cancer prevention, obesity prevention, and diabetes prevention, are expected.

[0020] (3) When glucobrassicin or its derivative is glucobrassicin, the effect of promoting the production of short-chain fatty acids while maintaining the balance of the bacterial species of the intestinal flora can be further improved.

[0021] (Another example) Incidentally, the above-described embodiment can be implemented with the following modifications. The present embodiment and the following modification examples can be implemented in combination with each other within a technically consistent range.

[0022] · The promoting composition of the above-described embodiment can be appropriately set according to the purpose, condition, etc., with respect to the daily intake amount and intake period. · The promoting composition of the above-described embodiment may be ingested once or divided into multiple times per day. Further, from the viewpoint of adjusting the intestinal environment, for example, it may be ingested continuously for one week or more.

[0023] · It may be applied to pets other than humans, and domestic animals such as livestock.

Examples

[0024] The promoting composition of the present embodiment will be described in more detail based on the following examples. Note that the promoting composition is not limited to the configuration described in the example column. <Test Example 1: Action of increasing production of short-chain fatty acids by glucobrassicin> Using bacteria of the genus Bifidobacterium as intestinal bacteria, the growth of the bacteria and the production amount of short-chain fatty acids were measured when glucobrassicin was administered.

[0025] As the bacteria of the genus Bifidobacterium, Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis (Microbial Material Development Laboratory (JCM) (RIKEN BRC) RIKEN No. 1222) was used. As the medium, MRS (deMan, Rogosa, Sharpe) medium was used. The growth property of Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis after culturing and the production amount of acetic acid in the medium were measured by the methods shown below.

[0026] (1) First, the above bacteria were anaerobically cultured in MRS medium for 24 hours. (2) The bacterial solution of (1) above was subcultured at 10% in a new MRS medium and anaerobically cultured for 24 hours. (3) The bacterial solution in (2) was diluted with MRS medium so that its concentration became constant. The diluted bacterial solution was added to fresh MRS medium at 2% (200 μL), and anaerobically cultured for 24 hours. The turbidity of the culture solution was measured (group cultured in 100% MRS medium: control). As a control, sterilized distilled water was added instead of the sample solution, and the turbidity (OD660nm) of the culture solution was measured.

[0027] (4) In the group cultured in 50% MRS medium (Comparative Example 1), MRS medium diluted to 50% with sterilized distilled water was used (group cultured in 50% MRS medium: negative control). The bacterial solution was added and cultured in the same manner as in (3) above. As a control, sterilized distilled water was added instead of the sample solution, and the turbidity of the culture solution was measured.

[0028] (5) In the group cultured in the medium added with broccoli puree (Comparative Example 2), a medium prepared by adding 25% broccoli puree to 50% MRS medium was used. The bacterial solution was added and cultured in the same manner as in (3) above. As a control, sterilized distilled water was added instead of the sample solution, and the turbidity of the culture solution was measured. The broccoli puree used was prepared by pulverizing broccoli, followed by centrifugation, and then the supernatant was filter-sterilized and anaerobically replaced overnight.

[0029] (6) In the group cultured in the medium added with glucobrassicin (Example 1), a medium prepared by adding 25% of a 100 μg / mL glucobrassicin (potassium glucobrassicin: manufactured by Sigma-Aldrich Japan) solution to 50% MRS medium was used. The bacterial solution was added and cultured in the same manner as in (3) above. As a control, sterilized distilled water was added instead of the sample solution, and the turbidity of the culture solution was measured. The glucobrassicin used was prepared to 100 μg / mL using sterilized distilled water and anaerobically replaced overnight.

[0030] Also, the amount of glucobrassicin in Comparative Example 2 and the amount of glucobrassicin in Example 1 were adjusted to be the same in the culture solution. (7) After cultivation, the culture broth of each example was centrifuged, and the supernatant was used to measure the acetic acid concentration. A calibration curve in ion chromatography was created using a standard sample, and the acetic acid concentration was measured using a 100-fold diluted sample. The value obtained by subtracting the amount of acetic acid contained in the blank of the medium alone from the amount of acetic acid in the culture broth was calculated as the acetic acid concentration after cultivation.

[0031] Table 1 shows the OD660nm values of the culture broth after cultivation and the acetic acid concentration in the culture broth for each example. In addition, the increase rate of the amount of acetic acid (mM) with respect to the growth rate of the bacteria (OD660nm of the culture broth) was determined (mM / OD660nm).

[0032] For reference, Table 2 shows the results of determining the correlation between the turbidity (OD660nm) of the culture broth and the number of bacteria (×10 7 cfu / 100 μL) by adjusting the concentration of MRS medium. As shown in Table 2, it was confirmed that the turbidity (OD660nm) of the culture broth correlates with the number of bacteria (×10 7 cfu / 100 μL).

[0033]

Table 1

[0034]

Table 2

[0035] Note that the OD660nm of the group cultured in the broccoli puree-added medium of Comparative Example 2 was increased compared to the OD660nm value of Comparative Example 1 with the same medium concentration. That is, the number of bacteria in the group of Comparative Example 2 was increased.

[0036] (Supplementary Note) Next, the technical ideas that can be grasped from the above embodiments and alternative examples are supplemented below. (A) The composition for promoting the production of short-chain fatty acids, wherein the short-chain fatty acid is acetic acid.

[0037] (B) The composition for promoting the production of short-chain fatty acids, which is used to promote the production of short-chain fatty acids while suppressing the excessive increase of short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria.

Claims

1. A composition for promoting the production of short-chain fatty acids, characterized by containing glucobrassicin or a derivative thereof.

2. The composition for promoting the production of short-chain fatty acids according to Claim 1, wherein the glucobrassicin or a derivative thereof is glucobrassicin.

3. The composition for promoting the production of short-chain fatty acids according to Claim 1 or 2, which is used as a food or drink.

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