Table 1.
Summary of human studies on prebiotics in anemia.
| Prebiotic/ Author |
Dose | Type of Administration | Study Group (n)/Control Group (n) | Assessment Method | Main Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOS; Paganini, D. et al., (2017) [30] | 7.5 g GOS for 3 weeks | fortified maize porridge | healthy infants fed GOS diet (n = 28)/no GOS diet (n = 22) |
erythrocyte incorporation of stable isotopes | the relative iron bioavailability was significantly increased in study group (p = 0.006) GOS increased iron absorption from FeFum (p = 0.047) but not from FeSO4 (p = 0.653) |
| GOS; Mikulic, N. et al., (2021) [31] | 7.5 g GOS added to a single test meal | fortified maize porridge | iron deficient and anemic infants fed GOS diet (n = 12)/no GOS diet (n = 11) | fractional iron absorption (FIA) assessed by erythrocyte incorporation of isotopic labels | GOS added to a single iron-fortified test meal did not significantly increase iron absorption |
| GOS; Jeroense, F.M.D. et al., (2019) [34] | 15 g GOS for 4 weeks | with water or with meal | iron-depleted women (n = 34) |
FIA assessed as erythrocyte incorporation of stable isotopes | GOS given with FeFum significantly increased iron absorption when was consumed with water (+61%) and with a meal (+28%); 4 weeks of GOS consumption was associated with an increase in hemoglobin (Hb) level (p = 0.001) |
| GOS; Jeroense, F.M.D. et al., (2020) [35] |
3.5 g, 7 g, 15 g GOS | with water | iron-depleted women assigned to groups with different conditions (n = 46) | FIA assessed as erythrocyte incorporation of stable isotopes | 7 g GOS significantly increased FIA from FeFum (+26%; p = 0.039) 3.5 g GOS did not significantly increased FIA from FeFum (p = 0.130) 15 g GOS did not significantly increased FIA from FeSO4 (p = 0.998) or FePP (p = 0.059) AA given with FeFum and 7 g GOS significantly increased FIA compared with FIA from FeFum given with 7 g GOS alone (+30%; p < 0.001) |
| Inulin; Petry N. et al., (2012) [47] |
20 g/d for 4 weeks | fibruline instant dissolved in water | women with low iron status (n = 32) | FIA was assessed by using stable-iron-isotope techniques | no significant differences (p = 0.10) between mean FIA in the inulin and placebo |
AA—Ascorbic Acid AA, FeFum—ferrous fumarate, FIA—fractional iron absorption, Hb—hemoglobin concentration, FeSO4—ferrous sulfate, FePP—ferric pyrophosphate.