Maltodextrin and intestinal defenses in lab and animal studies
What it found
In lab tests and mice, maltodextrin weakened some of the gut's antibacterial defenses and let gut bacteria get closer to the intestinal lining.
In adult mice it did not cause intestinal disease on its own.
What they found
Studies in people
Diet studies in people
Small studies of carbohydrate-restriction diets in IBD patients, which remove processed foods and maltodextrin, reported symptom improvement and reduced inflammation. The authors say larger studies are needed to confirm these results.
Animal and lab studies
Gut bacteria in mice
Mice given maltodextrin in their drinking water had higher levels of Salmonella in the cecum 48 hours after oral challenge than mice given plain water. This did not lead to more bacteria spreading beyond the gut or worse intestinal damage.
Barrier in mice
In uninfected mice given maltodextrin, gut bacteria were found inside the mucus barrier and in direct contact with the intestinal lining. The authors say this may prime the intestine for disease, though it did not cause disease in healthy adult mice.
Cell defense in lab tests
In lab tests, cells exposed to maltodextrin were less able to clear Salmonella. This was linked to a weaker respiratory burst and changes in how bacteria were moved inside the cells.
Bacterial adhesion
Maltodextrin directly increased the ability of several E. coli strains, including adherent-invasive E. coli, to stick to cells and form biofilms. The authors say this may promote E. coli colonization in the gut.
Other findings
How common it is
In a survey of grocery store items, about 60% of all packaged items listed maltodextrin or modified starch as an ingredient. A food questionnaire found 98.6% of respondents (210 of 213) routinely ate foods containing maltodextrin, averaging 2.6 such items a day.
What the authors conclude
“These findings indicate that although MDX consumption does not cause intestinal disease in healthy, adult mice, it may prime the intestine for disease development through impairment of anti-bacterial cellular responses, decreases in mucosal barrier defenses, and promotion of E. coli strain adhesion.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say that although maltodextrin is generally recognized as safe, more studies suggest it may not be safe for people who already have other risk factors for chronic disease.
- They advise that dietary additives such as maltodextrin may make disease worse, and that understanding how they interact with other risk factors could help prevent disease in susceptible people.
- They call for larger clinical studies to confirm the early results of diets that remove processed foods.
How it was done
The authors wanted to understand how diet and environmental factors might contribute to inflammatory bowel disease, which is thought to arise from an inappropriate immune response to gut bacteria in genetically susceptible people.
They reviewed their earlier lab studies on cells and mice, plus surveys of grocery items and people's eating habits. In the mouse work, mice drank water with maltodextrin at a level found in infant formulas (55.5 g/L) for 2 weeks, then were given Salmonella by mouth.
What it can’t tell you
- The mouse and lab results cannot show what happens in people.
- The human diet studies were small and did not test maltodextrin alone, so they cannot prove that removing it caused the improvements.
- The authors did not measure mucus levels, glycosylation patterns or barrier leakiness in the mice, so those ideas remain untested.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by NIDDK NIH HHS; NCATS NIH HHS; Howard Hughes Medical Institute (from the PubMed record).
The paper
- Title
- Deregulation of intestinal anti-microbial defense by the dietary additive, maltodextrin
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Nickerson KP, Chanin R, McDonald C (2015). Deregulation of intestinal anti-microbial defense by the dietary additive, maltodextrin. Gut microbes. doi:10.1080/19490976.2015.1005477Free full textPubMed 25738413DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error