Prebiotic Potential of Herbal Medicines Used in Digestive Health and Disease.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

The prebiotic potential of herbal medicines has been scarcely studied.

Methods

The authors therefore used anaerobic human fecal cultivation to investigate whether three herbal medicines commonly used in gastrointestinal health and disease in Ayurveda alter the growth and abundance of specific bacterial species.

Results

Profiling of cultures supplemented with Glycyrrhiza glabra, Ulmus rubra, or triphala formulation by 16S rDNA sequencing revealed profound changes in diverse taxa in human gut microbiota. Principal coordinate analysis highlights that each herbal medicine drives the formation of unique microbial communities. The relative abundance of approximately one-third of the 299 species profiled was altered by all 3 medicines, whereas additional species

SUBMITTER: Peterson CT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6065514 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature