Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids as Prebiotics: Innovation or Confirmation?

Emanuele Rinninella,Lara Costantini

doi:10.3390/foods11020146

Abstract

The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), in its last consensus statement about prebiotics, defined polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) as “candidate prebiotics” due to a lack of complete scientific evidence. Previous studies have demonstrated the ability of microbiota to metabolize PUFAs, although the role of the resulting metabolites in the host is less known. Recent partial evidence shows that these metabolites can have important health effects in the host, reinforcing the concept of the prebiotic action of PUFAs, despite the data being mostly related to omega-6 linoleic acid and to lactobacilli taxon. However, considering that the symbionts in our gut benefit from the nutritional molecules that we include in our diet, and that bacteria, like all living organisms, cannot benefit from a single nutritional molecule, the concept of the “correct prebiotic diet” should be the new frontier in the field of gut microbiota research.

Highlights

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The few data about metabolites are mostly collected from the Lactobacillus genus and on LA, which represents a small snapshot in comparison to the complexity of the commensals present in the gut microbiota and the totality of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)
The authors found that the excessive dietary LA was converted in the microbiota metabolite 10-hydroxy-cis-12-octadecenoic acid (HYA), and in physiological conditions, the plasmatic HYA level was higher in comparison to all the other gut microbial PUFA metabolites [5]

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The ISAPP defined polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) as candidate prebiotics because of the lack of the adequate evidence of health benefits for the target host.

Results

Conclusion