Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Dec 21, 2017; 23(47): 8321-8333
Published online Dec 21, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i47.8321
Fructo-oligosaccharide intensifies visceral hypersensitivity and intestinal inflammation in a stress-induced irritable bowel syndrome mouse model
Bin-Rui Chen, Li-Jun Du, Hui-Qin He, John J Kim, Yan Zhao, Ya-Wen Zhang, Liang Luo, Ning Dai
Bin-Rui Chen, Li-Jun Du, Hui-Qin He, Ya-Wen Zhang, Liang Luo, Ning Dai, Department of Gastroenterology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310016, Zhejiang Province, China
John J Kim, Yan Zhao, Division of Gastroenterology, Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda, CA 92354, United States
Author contributions: All authors contributed to the design of the study; Chen BR, Du LJ, He HQ, Zhang YW and Luo L performed the experiments; Chen BR and Du LJ analyzed the data; Chen BR, Kim JJ and Zhao Y wrote the paper; Kim JJ and Dai N critically revised the manuscript; All authors have reviewed the manuscript and given advice.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by Zhejiang University Animal Institutional Review Board.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Zhejiang University.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest related to this study.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Ning Dai, MD, PhD, Department Chief, Department of Gastroenterology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, No. 3, East Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310016, Zhejiang Province, China. ndaicn@zju.edu.cn
Telephone: +86-571-86044817 Fax: +86-571-86044817
Received: September 28, 2017
Peer-review started: September 28, 2017
First decision: October 17, 2017
Revised: November 14, 2017
Accepted: November 21, 2017
Article in press: November 21, 2017
Published online: December 21, 2017
Core Tip

Core tip: Fructo-oligosaccharide is a component of Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols (FODMAP), which has been associated with triggering symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In a stress-induced IBS mouse model, daily fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS) administration further intensified visceral hypersensitivity and low-grade intestinal inflammation compared to saline. FOS administration also led to increased intestinal production of individual and total short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) in mice subjected to stress. However, no difference in visceral sensitivity, intestinal inflammation, or cecal concentrations of SCFA was observed among sham-stressed mice receiving FOS or saline. Our findings suggest a mechanism of FODMAP-induced gastrointestinal symptoms associated with increased production of SCFA specific to IBS.