Short-chain fatty acids, butyrate, and Ulcerative Colitis

[David]

I'm been doing a little research on short-chain fatty acids and specifically butyrate (one of them). It turns out that impaired oxidation of butyrate may play a role in Ulcerative Colitis and both butyrate enemas and diets designed to increase butyrate production have helped UC patients (click through the links above for more information and the studies/sources).

Has anyone here been given butyrate enemas or had any of this discussed with them?

 

[kiny]

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-230X/11/14

The discussion part is really interesting. He talks about Fascin / butyrate / wound repair and 5-Asa. I really don't get everything yet though, crohn and UC almost force you to have a master in biology to understand half of what they're saying, I understand a bit more than I used to but much I don't get, all I know is that that paper is probably interesting.

I've taken S Boulardii sometimes (in the form of Enterol, glass bottle of 10) for it's effect on butyrate, I don't know if it does anything though.

 

[David]

Nice find Kiny.

These are interesting tidbits:

Strikingly, following scoring of the immunostaining, it was found that both the proportion of positive epithelial cells and the intensity of fascin staining (relative to internal positive control) was significantly greater in samples of Crohn's compared with UC (Figure 2). Staining intensity also positively correlated with disease activity (as determined by the consulting pathologist) for both conditions (Tau B = 0.223, p = <0.05). The intensity of fascin stain observed in the sample was also found to correlate with the proportion of fascin-positive epithelium (Tau B = 0.621, p = < 0.001).

Previous study has shown that fascin is overexpressed in both the benign and malignant stages of colorectal neoplasia and is associated with malignant progression of these tumours

Increased risk of colorectal cancer is an important clinical consideration in IBD, and malignant progression of areas of dysplasia remains highly unpredictable [2]. In this study, strong fascin expression was observed in IBD samples showing either low or high grade dysplasia (Figure 1E), or cancer.

Inflammatory infiltration in IBD frequently results in complete destruction of the mucosal layer resulting in areas of ulceration. Repair of these gaps in the epithelial barrier occurs as a two-stage process, termed restitution and regeneration [5]. In the sample group used, all of the 11 sections showing signs of active restitution stained positive for fascin in the flattened epithelial cells moving to cover the denuded area (Figure 1G, H).

Fascin staining was also observed in the newly formed immature crypts of regenerative polyps (Figure 1J) and in epithelial glands undergoing crypt fission - a relatively common observation in IBD tissue undertaking regeneration (Figure 1K). Taken together, these data suggest that fascin could play an important role in IBD and could be vital for disease remission through modulating mucosal repair.

5-ASA treatment caused a decrease in fascin expression compared with control, whereas butyrate strongly enhanced fascin expression in a dose-dependent manner

So if fascin is indeed important in healing then 5-ASA may reduce inflammation but also reduces the ability of the body to heal. Conversely, butyrate increases the body's ability to heal because it helps create more fascin.

However, fascin MAY be involved in cancer. 5-ASA is shown to decrease the chances of cancer so if that's because it inhibits fascin, then butyrate would potentially increase the chances of cancer. HOWEVER, [wiki]resistant starches[/wiki] which increase the amount of butyrate through fermentation are also shown to decrease the incidence of colorectal cancer which they mention in the discussion as well:

We, and others, have previously shown that butyrate has potent chemopreventive effects against colorectal tumorigenesis through the modulation of differentiation and apoptosis in colorectal epithelial cells

So I theorize it's not the fascin but something else that increases the chance of cancer.

That article has major implications for the use of 5-ASA though. It basically says it decreases the ability of the body to heal properly. Sure, it may reduce symptoms, but it's not letting the body heal for long term remission.

 

[kiny]

When he said that fascin is overexpressed in UC and Crohn, he showed it's still much higher in CD. I thought because crohn often involves more severe tissue breakdown, but in the discussion he says

"The increased proportion and intensity of fascin staining observed in samples of Crohn's compared with UC raises questions about the fundamental difference between these classifications of IBD. As it was only the epithelial immunoreactivity that was scored, this difference cannot be attributed to the ability of Crohn's colitis to affect deeper layers of the bowel wall than UC, but rather resides in the mechanism of fascin regulation. "

Pretty shocked about the 5-Asa thing he said though Although I don't know how important fasci is in tissue healing, I do know SCFA, protein and glutamine are very very important for tissue repair.

 

[mreyn]

So , I found this thread while researching and one article lead to another and I ended up researching small chain fatty acids and butyrate... IS there a certain supplement to take that includes them? I did find sodium butyrate on its own but wasn't sure if there was something else

 

[Lady Organic]

An Open Label Non Randomized Pilot Study: Use of the Ulcerative Colitis Diet for Induction of remission:

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02217722?term=butyrate+IBD&rank=4
and
Use of a Novel Diet (UC DIET) Targeting the Microbiota for Treatment of Mild to Moderate Active Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis: An Open Label Pilot Study

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02345733?term=butyrate+IBD&rank=5

''we have postulated that a diet that increases butyrate through fiber exposure, reduces intestinal sulfur exposure, and increases vitamin D levels could be beneficial for patients with Ulcerative Colitis. To date, no study has explored this possibility.''

 

[InstantCoffee]

So , I found this thread while researching and one article lead to another and I ended up researching small chain fatty acids and butyrate... IS there a certain supplement to take that includes them? I did find sodium butyrate on its own but wasn't sure if there was something else

I think you need to search for butyric acid.
http://www.iherb.com/Cardiovascular...psules/59213?gclid=CMGouq_m38YCFY17fgodXEIKhQ

You can also feed your butyrate producing bacteria with RS supplements which is probably a better source if you can tolerate them.

 

[cheka]

I'm been doing a little research on short-chain fatty acids and specifically butyrate (one of them). It turns out that impaired oxidation of butyrate may play a role in Ulcerative Colitis and both butyrate enemas and diets designed to increase butyrate production have helped UC patients (click through the links above for more information and the studies/sources).

Has anyone here been given butyrate enemas or had any of this discussed with them?

david, where are you at on this now? you were way ahead of everybody in 2012