Prakt. lékáren. 2018; 14(2): 73-76 | DOI: 10.36290/lek.2018.014

Butyrate

Petr Ryšávka, Martina Kohutková Lánová

Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, s. r. o., Praha

Short-chain fatty acids and their salts, particularly butyrate, are metabolites produced by intestinal bacteria from dietary fibreand polysaccharides. The spectrum of effects of butyrate on the body is very broad. Butyrate controls the formation of inflammatorycytokines and may thus have a positive effect on inflammatory bowel disease that is accompanied by intestinal dysbiosisto the detriment of the butyrate-producing bacteria. It is also capable of increasing the production of antimicrobial peptides bythe host in defence against pathogenic microorganisms. Consequently, in the past decade, butyrate has become the subject ofmuch research, ranging from basic research to preclinical studies to clinical trials. Butyrate is demonstrably capable of inducingapoptosis in vitro or inhibiting the proliferation of tumour cells by affecting gene expression. The effect of butyrate on the regulationof expression of various genes has the potential to be used, in the future, for the prevention, treatment, or symptom reliefin diabetes, cardiovascu¬lar disease, and some neurodegenerative and congenital diseases. However, further controlled clinicaltrials are required to confirm these effects.

Keywords: butyrate, colon, gut microbiome, carcinogenesis, inflammation

Published: June 20, 2018  Show citation