Oat beta-glucan

Oat beta-glucan 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. ACTIONS: Oat beta-glucan may have hypocholesterolemic and glucose-regulating activity. It also has putative immunomodulatory activity.

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.