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The primary objective was to determine the beneficial effects of oat β-glucan (OG) and barley β-glucan (BG) on gut health. A total of 200 male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 5 groups of 40 rats each, control group (CON), low-dose OG-administered group (OGL), high-dose OG-administered group (OGH), low-dose BG-administered group (BGL), and high-dose BG-administered group (BGH). OGL and OGH were administered oat β-glucan by intragastric gavage at a dose of 0.35 g/kg of body weight (BW) and 0.70 g/kg of BW daily for 6 weeks, and BGL and BGH were administered barley β-glucan. The CON received normal saline. Intestinal-health-related indexes were analyzed at baseline, week 3, week 6, and week 7. Cereal β-glucan significantly influenced the fecal water content, pH value, ammonia levels, β-glucuronidase activity, azoreductase activity, and colonic short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentrations (p < 0.05). Moreover, the population of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium increased (p < 0.05), whereas the number of Enterobacteriaceae decreased (p < 0.05) in a dose-dependent manner during the period of cereal β-glucan administration. These results suggested that cereal β-glucan might exert favorable effects on improving intestinal functions and health but the gut-health-promoting effects of oat β-glucan were better than those of barley β-glucan.

Dietary oat or oat products may potentially help to fight against high risk of cardiovascular diseases and β-glucan in oat was considered as a central player. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary oat whole meal or β-glucan on insulin sensitivity and energy metabolism of rats. Rats were fed with control diet, oat whole meal based diet, or control diet with supplemented β-glucan for 4 weeks. Oat whole meal and β-glucan increased insulin sensitivity index. Interestingly, supplementation of oat whole meal or β-glucan induced increases in intestinal Na(+)K(+)-ATPase activity, Ca(2+)Mg(2+)-ATPase activity, and energy charge, particularly in the distal part of small intestine (ileum). Furthermore, amounts of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus in colon contents were elevated by oat whole meal or β-glucan. These findings provide an insight into that β-glucan increased insulin sensitivity and benefited intestinal health.

Oat products are abundant in β-glucan, which could lower the glycemic index of products or foods. A low glycemic index is beneficial in the control of postprandial glycemia. The study examined the hypoglycemic effects of oat products that had the same percentage of oat β-glucan and were added into the diet fed to streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice for 6 weeks, and potential mechanisms are discussed here. Oat products significantly decreased fasting blood glucose and glycosylated serum protein (p < 0.05), but the hypoglycemic effect was not more than that of metformin (p > 0.05). Oat products increased glycogen, hormone, and nuclear receptor levels (p < 0.05), decreased free fatty acid content and succinate dehydrogenase activity (p < 0.05), and inhibited pancreatic apoptosis (p < 0.05). The results showed oat products had hypoglycemic effects. Hypoglycemic effects of oat products might be regulating glucose and fat metabolisms, stimulating hormone secretion, activating the nuclear receptor, and protecting organ function.

A sensitive method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of 10 benzimidazole residues and some of their metabolites in egg, milk, chicken, and pork. This method is based on the combination of polymer monolith microextraction (PMME) technique with liquid chromatography and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI/MS). The extraction was performed with a poly(methacrylic acid-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) (MAA-co-EGDMA) monolithic capillary column. Under the optimized extraction conditions, good extraction efficiencies for the targets were obtained with no matrix interference in the subsequent detection. The LODs (S/N=3) for 10 benzimidazoles were found to be 0.56-2.76 ng g(-1) in egg, 0.50-1.41 ng mL(-1) in milk, 0.09-0.28 ng g(-1) in chicken, and 0.08-0.15 ng g(-1) in pork. The recoveries in egg, milk, chicken, and pork matrices ranged from 75.2 to 116.8% spiked at different levels with analytes, with RSDs of <13.7%. The method was later successfully applied for the determination of primary and metabolite residues in eggs after oral administration of albendazole to hens.

The antibacterial drug furazolidone belonging to the group of nitrofuran antibacterial agents has been widely used as an antibacterial and antiprotozoal feed additive for poultry, cattle, and farmed fish in China. During application a large proportion of the administered drug may reach the environment directly or via feces. Although the use of furazolidone is prohibited in numerous countries, there are indications of its illegal use. It is known that furazolidone can be rapidly metabolized to 3-amino-2-oxazolidinone (AOZ) in the body of the target organism. In this study, a total of 21 fish feed samples, including 17 commercial fish feeds from local markets in China (representing 15 different formulations) and 4 fish feeds obtained from Germany and Turkey, respectively, are analyzed to determine whether the drug is still illegally used or commercially available feeds are contaminated by this drug. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) methods have been implemented to determine furazolidone and its metabolite AOZ in fish feeds containing animal protein, respectively. An efficient and convenient cleanup method for the determination of furazolidone in fish feeds is developed, and a simple cleanup method for the determination of AOZ is used. Method recoveries for samples used were determined as 87.7-98.3% for furazolidone at two spike levels of 2.0 and 5.0 ng g-1 and as 95.6-102.8% for AOZ at spike levels of 0.4 and 0.8 ng g-1. Limits of detections were 0.4 ng g-1 for furazolidone and 0.05 ng g-1 for AOZ. The established methods are therefore suitable for the determination of furazolidone and its metabolite AOZ in fish feeds at trace contamination levels. Using the established methods, all fish feed samples have been proved to be furazolidone negative; however, AOZ is tested in 16 of 17 fish feeds obtained from local markets in the Hubei province of China, with a positive rate as high as 94.1%.