Impact of non-digestible carbohydrates on biomarkers of GI health: a human intervention study

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Bowel cancer is a major gut-related health issue in the UK. Diet is a significant modifier of bowel cancer risk, but progress in developing new food products or other interventions to reduce this risk is hampered by the lack of validated biomarkers for use as surrogate endpoints in humans. In this two-centred project, the collaborators (University of Newcastle and the Institute of Food Research) will carry out an intervention trial with fermentable carbohydrates as a source of butyrate in healthy volunteers, to test the utility of a panel of novel biomarkers. Volunteers will be recruited in Newcastle, from patients presenting for routine diagnostic endoscopy and showing no evidence of colorectal neoplasia. The biomarkers will include markers of inflammation, DNA methylation and gene expression. We will collect colorectal mucosal biopsies, urine, blood and stool samples before randomising volunteers test and placebo groups in a double-blind randomised parallel group clinical trial. Each volunteer will be asked to take fermentable carbohydrates (resistant starch or polydextrose) or placebo for 50 days, after which a second set of colo-rectal mucosal biopsies and other biological samples will be collected. We will recruit 70 subjects, which allows for 10% drop out. We will characterise our volunteers for dietary exposure, habitual physical activity, adiposity, inflammatory status and nutritional status. We will assess the efficacy of resistant starch and polydextrose in increasing butyrate production by measuring butyrate concentration in stool before and after the intervention. A range of molecular biomarkers will be measured in the two collaborating laboratories, based at the University of Newcastle, and the Institute of Food Research.

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