1: Br J Nutr. 2004 Sep;92(3):521-6. 

Inulin-type fructans modulate gastrointestinal peptides involved in appetite
regulation (glucagon-like peptide-1 and ghrelin) in rats.

Cani PD, Dewever C, Delzenne NM.

Unit of Pharmacokinetics, Metabolism, Nutrition and Toxicology, Department of
Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universite Catholique de Louvain, B-1200 Brussels,
Belgium.

The hypothesis tested in the present study is that dietary fructans are able to
modulate gastrointestinal peptides involved in the control of food intake,
namely glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 (7-36) amide and ghrelin. After 3 weeks of
treatment with a standard diet (control) or the same diet enriched with 100 g
fructans varying in their degrees of polymerization (oligofructose (OFS),
Synergy 1 (Syn) or long chain inulin)/kg, male Wistar rats were deprived of food
for 8 h before sample collection. Dietary energy intake throughout the
experiment was significantly lower (P<0.05) in fructans-fed rats than in control
rats, leading to a significant decrease (P<0.01) in epidydimal fat mass at the
end of the treatment in OFS- and Syn-treated rats. GLP-1 (7-36) amide
concentration in portal vein serum was higher in OFS- and Syn-fed than in
control rats. Both GLP-1 (7-36) amide concentration and proglucagon mRNA
concentrations were significantly greater (P<0.05) in the proximal colonic
mucosa of fructans-fed rats v. controls. Normally active ghrelin concentration
in plasma increases during food deprivation and rapidly falls during a meal. In
the present study, after 8 h of food deprivation, active ghrelin in the plasma
remained significantly lower (P<0.05) in OFS and Syn-fed than in control rats.
These results are in accordance with the modifications of dietary intake and
fat-mass development in short-chain fructans-treated rats and demonstrate the
potential modulation of GLP-1 (7-36) amide and ghrelin by fermentable fibres
such as fructans, which are rapidly and extensively fermented in the proximal
part of the colon.

PMID: 15469657 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]