Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 1998 Dec; 12(12): 1225-30.

Treatment of ulcerative colitis with germinated barley foodstuff feeding: a pilot study.

Mitsuyama K, Saiki T, Kanauchi O, Iwanaga T, Tomiyasu N, Nishiyama T, Tateishi H, Shirachi A, Ide M, Suzuki A, Noguchi K, Ikeda H, Toyonaga A, Sata M.

Second Department of Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan. [email protected]

BACKGROUND: Germinated barley foodstuff (GBF) has been shown to attenuate intestinal injury in animal models, largely by increasing luminal short-chain fatty acid production. AIM: To investigate the safety and efficacy of GBF in the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC). METHODS: Ten patients with active UC received 30 g of GBF daily for 4 weeks in an open-label treatment protocol while the baseline anti-inflammatory therapy was continued. The response to treatment was evaluated clinically and endoscopically. Pre- and post-treatment stool concentrations of short-chain fatty acids were measured by gas-liquid chromatography. RESULTS: Patients showed improvement in their clinical activity index scores, with a significant decrease in the score from 6.9+/-1.4 to 2.8+/-1.5 (mean+/-S.E.M., P < 0.05). The endoscopic index score fell from 6.1+/-2.3 to 3.8+/-2.3 (P < 0.0001). Patients showed an increase in stool butyrate concentrations after GBF treatment (P < 0.05). No side-effects were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Oral GBF therapy may have a place in management of ulcerative colitis, but controlled studies are needed to demonstrate its efficacy in the treatment of this disorder.