Table 3.
Studies for evaluating impact of β-glucan on colorectal cancer, diabetes mellitus, cholesterol, epithelial integrity, and inflammation.
| β-Glucan | Model system | Impact | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| In vivo studies | |||
| Polycan (Aureobasidium pullulans) | Male hamsters (age, 7 weeks) | Decreases HFD-induced hyperglycemia and associated atherosclerosis, with relatively good protective effects on liver damage. | Lim et al. (212) |
| Oat-β-glucan | Clinical study in patients | Increases Akkermansia muciniphila and leads to reduction of total cholesterol | Li et al. (213) |
| Barley-β-glucan | Adult male Sprague–Dawley rats | Reduction in colon inflammation | Kopiasz et al. (214) |
| Yeast β-glucans | Male C57BL/6 J mice | Improves insulin sensitivity and hepatic lipid metabolism | Mitchelson et al. (215) |
| Glucooligosaccharides (GOS)-supplemented HFD | C57Bl/6 male mice | Change in gut microbiota population that shows an essential role of GOS in controlling diabetic metabolic phenotype. | Serino et al. (216) |
| Barley-β-glucan | 50 healthy subjects without a prior diagnosis of diabetes mellitus were included. Out of them, 44 were completers who were administered beverages containing placebo (control), a lower dose (3 g/d), or a higher dose (6 g/d) of reduced viscosity barley-β-glucan extract. | Improve insulin sensitivity among hyperglycemic individuals with no prior diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. | Bays et al. (217) |
| Oat-β-glucan | A total of 100 free-living hypercholesterolemia subjects were locally recruited and 89 completed the study. | Increases the population of Bacteroides–Prevotella species and propionate and butyrate ratio during in vitro studies. It improves insulin levels and maintains glucose homeostasis. | Biorklund et al. (218) |
| Oat β-glucans | A total of 16 male, well-controlled type 2 diabetes patients | A greater increase in HDL cholesterol and larger decreases in the hemoglobin A1c, weight, and body mass index were found. | Reyna et al. (219) |
| 6% oat-β-glucan concentrate | Pig | Significant decreases in glucose levels and increases in the levels of SCFAs and insulin. | Braaten et al. (220) |
| β-glucan | A total of 19 adult females and males. | It reduces DNA damage substantially in colorectal cancer patients and shows anti-mutagenic effects. | Benlier et al. (221) |
| β-glucan | Mice | It significantly decreased the TNF-α level and down-regulated three genes (hmgcs2, fabp2, and gpt) that are associated with inflammation and cancer. It increases the relative abundance of Parabacteroides. | Qi et al. (222) |
| Lentinan | Clinical study in patients | Increases host defense mechanisms against murine and human tumors. Induces the production of IL-12 and the binding ability of peripheral blood monocytes. Shows a positive effect on long-term survival and the improving quality of life status. | Hazama et al. (223) |
| Aminated β-1,3-D-glucan and interferon-gamma | Syngeneic mice | Inhibited the growth of liver metastases significantly. | Sveinbjornsson et al. (224) |
| β-glucans (paramylon and its isomer amorphous paramylon) | Mice | Shows preventive effects against colon cancer. | Watanabe et al. (225) |
| In vitro studies | |||
| Oat-β-glucan | Caco-2 cell line and HT29-MTX-E12 cell line | Increases 28% butyrate production that promotes the tightness of the gut barrier. | Pham et al. (36) |
| Barley-β-glucan | Caco-2 cells and dendritic cells | Reduction of proinflammatory markers in the colon | Bermudez-Brito et al. (226) |