Fructooligosaccharide intake promotes epigenetic changes in the intestinal mucosa in growing and ageing rats.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between fructooligosaccharide (FOS) intake at different life stages of Wistar rats and its stimulatory effects on intestinal parameters.
Methods: Recently weaned and ageing female rats were divided into growing and ageing treatments, which were fed diets that partially replaced sucrose with FOS for 12 weeks.
Results: Dietary FOS intake induced a significant increase in the numbers of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus in growing rats. FOS intake was associated with increased butyric acid levels and a reduced pH of the caecal contents at both ages. Differential gene expression patterns were observed by microarray analysis of growing and ageing animals fed the FOS diet. A total of 133 genes showed detectable changes in expression in the growing rats, while there were only 19 gene expression changes in ageing rats fed with FOS.
Conclusion: These results suggest that dietary FOS intake may be beneficial for some parameters of intestinal health in growing rats.