Table 4.

Examples of trials regarding the effect of SCFAs on human health.

Type of SCFA	The Effect on Human Health	References
Acetate	Protection against E. coli O157:H7 infection	[82]
	Participates in the synthesis of cholesterol	[74]
Butyrate	Is the source of 70% of the energy used by intestinal epithelial cells	[37]
	Increases in MUC2 gene expression and the production of mucin	[64]
	inhibits development of tumor cells and inducing the process of their apoptosis	[65,66,67]
	Inhibits the genotoxic activity of nitrosamides and hydrogen peroxide	[83]
	Has immunoregulatory effect	[78]
	Plays a role in the prevention and the treatment of distal ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and cancer	[84]
	Improves ulcerative colitis (UC) symptoms	[85]
Butyrate/acetate/propionate	Improves the macroscopic and histological signs of inflammation	[86]
Formate	Presence is associated with methanogenesis and its concentration may be elevated during inflammation	[71,72]
Propionate	Decreases cholesterol synthesis in the liver, improves lipid metabolism	[76,87]
	Has anti-proliferative effect	[88,89]
Valerate	Stimulates the growth of intestinal epithelium Has a beneficial effect on the pathogenesis of diseases such as colitis, cardio-metabolic diseases and cancer	[79,80,81]