RATIONALE To prevent or combat infection, increasing the effectiveness of the immune response is highly desirable, especially in case of compromised immune system function. However, immunostimulatory therapies are scarce, expensive, and often have unwanted side-effects. β-glucans have been shown to exert immunostimulatory effects in vitro and in vivo in experimental animal models. Oral β-glucan...

We conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled crossover pilot study to investigate the effect of oat betaglucans (β-glucan) on glycaemic control and variability in adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D; n = 14). Stomacol® tablets (1.53 g of β-glucan) or placebo (Plac) were administered three times daily before meals for two weeks. Glucose levels were monitored during the second week by continuous g...

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of β-glucan supplementation on pig performance and immune function. In Exp. 1, 100 weaned pigs (8.65 ± 0.42 kg of BW and 28 ± 2 d of age) were used in a 35-d experiment to determine the effects of graded levels of β-glucan. Pigs were randomly allotted to 1 of 5 treatments containing β-glucan supplemented at 0, 25, 50, 100, or 200 ppm. ...

The β-1, 3 (d)-glucan (β-glucan) present in the cell wall of Candida albicans induces epigenetic changes in human monocytes resulting in primed macrophages exhibiting increased cytokine responsiveness to reinfection. This phenomenon is referred to as trained immunity or innate immune memory. However, whether β-glucan can reprogramme murine monocytes in vitro or induce lasting effects in vivo ha...

The Homopolysaccharide called beta-glucan was extracted from different sources, microbial source (baking yeast of Turkish origin) and vegetable (brown barley bran) using the classical method hot water respectively. Results showed that higher yield contents β-glucan, which reached 5.95 % 5.18 were found in baker’s origin bran respectively, β-glucan analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectros...

Several regulatory bodies have approved a health claim on the cholesterol-lowering effects of oat β-glucan at levels of 3·0 g/d. The present study aimed to test whether 1·5 g/d β-glucan provided as ready-to-eat oat flakes was as effective in lowering cholesterol as 3·0 g/d from oats porridge. A 6-week randomised controlled trial was conducted in eighty-seven mildly hypercholesterolaemic ( ≥ 5 m...

The soluble fibre (1 → 3)(1 → 4)-β-D-glucan attenuates postprandial glycaemic responses when administered in solution. This attenuating effect is strengthened when solution viscosity is increased by increasing the β-glucan dose or molecular weight (MW). The effect of varying solution viscosity by changing solution volume, without changing the β-glucan dose or MW, on glycaemic responses was dete...

Six hull-less barley cultivars widely grown in China were roller-milled to produce bran, shorts and flour fractions. The distribution and molecular characteristics of β-glucans from the three roller-milled fractions were investigated. The β-glucan contents in the six hull-less barley cultivars varied from 4.96% to 7.62%. For all the six cultivars, the shorts fraction contained the highest conce...

BACKGROUND/AIM Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced endotoxemia can cause serious organ damage such as acute lung injury and death by triggering the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines and acute-phase reactants. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of β-glucan on inflammatory mediator levels and histopathological changes in LPS-induced endotoxemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS Forty-sev...