Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Oct 6, 2022; 10(28): 9985-10003
Published online Oct 6, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i28.9985
Role of short chain fatty acids in gut health and possible therapeutic approaches in inflammatory bowel diseases
Marcos Antônio Ferreira Caetano, Patricia Castelucci
Marcos Antônio Ferreira Caetano, Patricia Castelucci, Department of Anatomy, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 05508900, SP, Brazil
Author contributions: Caetano MAF was responsible for the literature review, and analysis and written; Castelucci P performed the critical interpretation and revised the manuscript for intellectual content.
Supported by the Research Support Foundation of the State of São Paulo, FAPESP, Brazil, No. n2014/25927-2 and No. 2018/07862-1; and Higher Education Personnel Improvement Coordination (CAPES, Brazil), No. n88887.506345/2020-00.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Patricia Castelucci, MHSc, PhD, Associate Professor, Associate Research Scientist, Lecturer, Department of Anatomy, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, 2415 Av. Professor Lineu Prestes, São Paulo 05508900, SP, Brazil. pcastel@usp.br
Received: June 19, 2022
Peer-review started: June 19, 2022
First decision: July 11, 2022
Revised: August 2, 2022
Accepted: August 25, 2022
Article in press: August 25, 2022
Published online: October 6, 2022
Abstract

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are characterized by inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract and include Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease. These diseases are costly to health services, substantially reduce patients’ quality of life, and can lead to complications such as cancer and even death. Symptoms include abdominal pain, stool bleeding, diarrhea, and weight loss. The treatment of these diseases is symptomatic, seeking disease remission. The intestine is colonized by several microorganisms, such as fungi, viruses, and bacteria, which constitute the intestinal microbiota (IM). IM bacteria promotes dietary fibers fermentation and produces short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that exert several beneficial effects on intestinal health. SCFAs can bind to G protein-coupled receptors, such as GPR41 and GPR43, promoting improvements in the intestinal barrier, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects. Thus, SCFAs could be a therapeutic tool for IBDs. However, the mechanisms involved in these beneficial effects of SCFAs remain poorly understood. Therefore, this paper aims to provide a review addressing the main aspects of IBDs, and a more detailed sight of SCFAs, focusing on the main effects on different aspects of the intestine with an emphasis on IBDs.

Keywords: Ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, Short-chain fatty acid, Butyrate, Inflammatory bowel diseases, Free fatty acid receptor

Core Tip: This review addresses the main epidemiological, and pathophysiological aspects of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), characterizes the intestinal microbiota, and describes, in more details, the production, metabolism, and main effects of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) on various aspects of intestinal health, elucidating potential therapeutic effects of SCFAs in IBDs. In addition, this review addresses aspects of the modulation of SCFA production and encourages further studies on the subject seeking clinical application.