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

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Abstract
Germinated barley foodstuff (GBF) has been shown to attenuate intestinal injury in animal models, largely by increasing luminal short-chain fatty acid production. To investigate the safety and efficacy of GBF in the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC). 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. 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. 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.