The effect of orally administrated β-glucan and dietary restriction on faecal microflora in rats

Abstract

In this study we aimed to evaluate the effect of orally administered beta-glucan and/or dietary restriction on Lactobacillus spp., coliforms, Enterobacteriaceae and enterococci counts in rat faeces. For this aim, rats were divided into three experimental groups: i) first group animals received normal diet for 6 months and administrated orally with beta-glucan (20 mg/kg for bodyweigth) over the last 14 day of experiment, ii) second group was dietary restricted animals for 6 months and receiving beta-glucan as those of first group animals, iii) last group was the control group rats receiving only ad libitum feed. Compared to control group, numeric increase was observed in the number of coliforms, Enterobacriaceae and lactobacillus counts in first group but this was not statistically important. The increase in coliforms and Enterobacteriaceae counts was nearly 2 log while this was 1 log for lactobacillus counts. Interestingly, dietary restriction + beta-glucan administration had no significant influence on the increase of defined bacterial groups. The results of the present study showed that orally administration of the beta-glucan, widely used as prebiotic, has the potential to modify faeces microbiota in rat model.