In this paper, it is summarized that dietary fiber will play the important role in intestinal absorption and mucosal repair. The in vitro and in vivo experiments indicated that absorption of nutrients such as glucose and fatty acids is disturbed by the increased thickness of unstirred water layer as well as adsorption. Recently, dietary fiber is paid attention to the action of prebiotics. Short chain fatty acids are produced by intestinal microflora, which will be utilized as an energy source of intestinal epithelium, and then promote the repair of intestinal mucosa. We clarified that butyrate has antiinflammatory action due to the decrease of NF-KB activation, and dietary fiber as prebiotics is useful to the patients with ulcerative colitis.

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A randomized double blind study was conducted on 36 adult Japanese men (averaged age: 40 years old) withboundary and mild hypercholesterolemia to clarify the effect of oatmeal on the serum cholesterol and the safety of its long-term intake. The subjects were randomly divided into 2 groups. The oatmeal group was given the oatmeal porridge containing 45g oatmeal (1.6g β-glucan) each once a day for 12 weeks, and the control group was given the control porridge containing white rice and cellulose as the substitute for oatmeal. As a result, the level of serum total cholesterol (TC) in the control group tended to increase as compared to the front period of ingestion (p=0.053). The level of serum TC in the oatmeal group did not change, and was significantly lower than that in the control group throughout the ingestion period (p<0.05). From the results of physiological and biochemical examinations, and the check of subjective symptoms, there was no negative effect in the group given oatmeal porridge except for loose feces. These results indicate that oatmeal containing β-glucan can modulate the level of serum TC and is safety food.

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We investigated that effects of fermented barley fiber (FBF) prepared from barley shochu lees, which was produced in manufacturing barley shochu, on lipid metabolism in rats. FBF contains about 50% of dietary fiber. The components of dietary fiber were hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin. Rats were fed on a relatively high-fat diet which contains 10% of lard, and 5% or 10% of FBF. FBF did not affect the levels of serum lipids. However, the concentrations of total lipids, triacylglycerol, and cholesterol in the liver were decreased by fed a FBF-containing diet. In another experiment, we fed a diet containing 20% of FBF with 1 % of orotic acid to rats. FBF prevented the accumulation of lipids in the liver and normalized the levels of serum lipids induced by orotic acid. From these results FBF was considered to possess the improvement effects on the accumulation of lipids in the liver.

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We conducted a high-dose, repeated ingestion study of difructose anhydrideIII (DFAIII) in humans. All subjects ingested 3g of DFAIII 3 times (9 g) daily for 4 weeks. Blood and urine samples were collected at pre- (day 0), mid-(day 14), and post- (day 29) ingestion periods. Stool condition and defecation frequency, diet menu, and the incidents of gastrointestinal and other symptoms were recorded for 6 weeks with the ingestion period bracketed. Some blood parameters, especially blood osmolarity, varied between day 0 and day 14 or day 29; however, these changes were not serious. Incidences of some gastrointestinal symptoms tended to rise only in the early stage of the ingestion period, though increased defecation frequency and the incidence of diarrhea did not recover completely until the ingestion period was concluded. These results show that high-dose, repeated ingestion of DFAIII could produce transitory diarrhea and some gastrointestinal symptoms, but no serious adverse effects.

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Effects of ingestion of drinks containing galactosylsucrose(LS) 5g on defecation were studied in 40 senile patients with constipation tendencies (11 men and 29 women, average age 80.2±9.b years). The duration of the experiment was four weeks divided into four periods: non-ingestion period 1(pre-ingestion period: 1st week), ingestion period 1(2nd week), ingestion period 2(3rd week), and non-ingestion period 2(post-ingestion period: 4th week). The resulting defecation frequency in patients who defecated less than 4 days a week was significantly increased (p<0.05) due to the LS drink ingestion. This increase was observed during both the ingestion period 2 and the post-ingestion period compared with during the pre-ingestion period. The fecal volume significantly increased (p<0.05) during the ingestion period 1 compared with during the pre-ingestion period. These results indicate that ingestion of 5g LS/day can improve defecation of senile patients with constipation tendencies.

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