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INTRODUCTION: |
| Oat beta-glucan is a soluble fiber. It is a viscous polysaccharide made up of units |
| of the sugar D-glucose. Oat beta-glucan is comprised of mixed-linkage |
| polysaccharides. |
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ACTIONS: |
| Oat beta-glucan may have hypocholesterolemic and glucose-regulating activity. It |
also has putative immunomodulatory activity. |
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MECHANISM ACTIONS: |
| Oat beta-glucan appears to promote increased excretion of bile acids, which could |
| explain, in large part, its possible cholesterol-lowering activity. Oat beta-glucan may |
also promote cholesterol clearance from the plasma via reverse cholesterol |
| transport. Oat beta-glucan may delay gastric emptying time and consequently affect |
| the rate of uptake of D-glucose from the small intestine. This may be one possible |
| mechanism; the high viscosity of oat beta-glucan may delay absorption of glucose, |
| which may be another possible mechanism. Oat beta-glucan has been found to |
| have immunomodulatory activity in tissue culture and in mice. It appears to activate |
| macrophages to release certain cytokines. Such activity, in mice, has been found to |
be protective against bacterial infection. It is unclear whether oat beta-glucan has immunomodula-tory activity in humans. |
