This is the first book specifically devoted to butyrate and its biological functions in the health of humans and animals. It is the result of the collective efforts of a group of international experts working on different aspects of butyrate.
It has been recognized for a long time that consumption of dietary fibers has positive metabolic health effects. These effects are directly associated with short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), particularly butyric acids, formed by the microbial degradation of dietary fibers in the digestive tract. In the last decade, multiple beneficial effects of butyrate at the intestinal and extra-intestinal levels have been demonstrated. As nutrition research is transferring from epidemiology and physiology to the molecular mechanisms of biological effects, we have come to realize that nutrients, such as butyrate, are not simply food ingredients or metabolic elements. Butyrate not only plays an important role in fueling colonocytes and maintaining intestinal homeostasis, it also functions as an important epigenetic regulator through its inhibitory effects on histone deacetylases, thereby modifying the chromatin landscape.
Chromatin modification has evidently aroused as a very important mechanism in regulating the transcriptional status of the genome, and changing the functions of cells at the genetic and epigenetic levels. Butyrate-induced biological effects provide examples of epigenomic regulation induced by nutrient elements and provide a basis for understanding the full range of the biological roles and molecular mechanisms that butyrate may play in cell growth, proliferation, and energy metabolism. With the advances in researching and understanding the molecular mechanism of butyrate's biological functions, there is a mounting interest in butyrate because its impact on epigenetic mechanisms will lead to more specific and efficacious therapeutic strategies for the prevention and treatment of different diseases.
This book is a comprehensive collection of highly innovative research ideas, strategies, and crucial points related to butyrate and its biological functions. It assembles a body of work that covers a range of scientific fields such as cancer research, immunology, metabolism, stem cell study, genomics, epigenomics and metagenomics. The objective of this book is to promote molecular biology, functional genomics, metagenomics research and bioinformatics that serve as launching points for the systems biology and for future research into the functions and mechanisms of butyrate. With recent advances in different but intriguing research fields, this book is a great reference for biochemists, molecular biologists, biomedical scientists, animal scientists and clinical researchers. This book is also a great reference for graduate students working in the related fields of biomedical sciences and animal sciences.
I extend my great appreciation to all of the authors, who passionately committed themselves to this book and to their respective chapters. Their dedication makes this book possible. Cong-Jun Li, Ph. D. Epigenetics Bovine Functional Genomics Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service US Department of Agriculture Beltsville, MD 20705, USA Tel: 301-504-7216 congjun.li@ars.usda.gov

Preface vii

Contributors ix

Chapter 1 Enhancing Butyrate Biosynthesis in the Gut for Health Benefits 1

Robert W. Li and Cong-Jun Li

Chapter 2 Butyrate and Intestinal Function 25

Jacqueline I. Alvarez-Leite, and Edenil Costa Aguilar

Chapter 3 Large Bowel Short Chain Fatty Acid Production, Immune Status and Immune Cell Function: Implications for Chronic Inflammatory Disease 51

Kim Y. C. Fung, Leah Cosgrove, Julie Clarke, Trevor Lockett, Tatsuya Morita, Koji Hase and David Topping

Chapter 4 Butyrate Actions on Carcinogenesis: Focus on Epigenetic Mechanisms 69

Aline de Conti

Chapter 5 Potential Beneficial Effects of Butyrate against Food Allergy 81

Margherita Di Costanzo, Lorella Paparo, Rosita Aitoro, Linda Cosenza, Rita Nocerino, Tommaso Cozzolino, Vincenza Pezzella, Gianfranco Vallone and Roberto Berni Canani

Chapter 6 Short Chain Fatty Acids in Regulation of the Immune System and Tissue Inflammation in the Intestine 91

Myung H. Kim and Chang H. Kim

Chapter 7 Biological Effects of Sodium Butyrate in the Regulation of Gene Expression on Astrocytoma Cell Lines and Improvement of Therapies 109

Monika Garrido-Armas and Francisco Arenas-Huertero

Chapter 8 Butyrate, WNT Signaling and Colorectal Cancer 133

Michael Bordonaro and Darina L. Lazarova

Chapter 9 Butyrate-Mediated Protection against Colonic Inflammation and Colon Carcinogenesis: Role of Butyrate Transporters and Butyrate Receptors 157

Vadivel Ganapathy, Puttur D. Prasad, Muthusamy Thangaraju, Pamela M. Martin and Nagendra Singh

Chapter 10 Epigenetic Influence of Butyrate Producing Bacteria in Metabolic Syndrome 177

Marlene Remely, Ines Tesar and Alexander G. Haslberger

Chapter 11 Butyrate Facilitates Epigenetic Reprogramming 189

Justin E. Brier-Jones, Jason B. Kiroyan and Xiao-Bing Zhang

Chapter 12 Role and Function of Short Chain Fatty Acids in Rumen Epithelial Metabolism, Development and Importance of the Rumen Epithelium in Understanding Control of Transcriptome 199

Ransom L. Baldwin, VI and Kyle R. McLeod

Chapter 13 Regulation of Cellular Processes by Epigenetic Mechanisms of Butyrate 219

Kasturi Ranganna, Omana P. Mathew and Shirlette G. Milton

Chapter 14 Butyrate: A Dietary Inhibitor of Histone Deacetylases and an Epigenetic Regulator 233

Cong-Jun Li, Robert W. Li, Ransom L. Baldwin and Theodore H. Elsasser

Index 259

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