0891-060X/93/030119--04 $07.00. 0 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd .... Lidbeck A, Overvik E, Rafter J, Nord CE, Gustafsson. J-A. (1992). Effect of Lactobacillus ...
MICROBIAL ECOLOGY IN HEALTH AND DISEASE
VOL. 6:
1 19-1 22 (1 993)
Dose Response on the Faecal Colonisation of Lactobacillus Strain GG Administered in Two Different Formulations M. SAXELINt, M. AHOKASS and S. SALMINEN*II
t Valio R&D, 00101 Helsinki, Finland; $Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology, University of Helsinki, 00710 Helsinki, Finland and (1 Department of Biochemistry and Food Chemistry, University of Turku, 20500 Turku, Finland
Received 22 February 1993; revised 29 March 1993
Faecal concentrations of Lactobacillus GG in human subjects were studied after oral administration of the bacterium Lactobacillus GG was given in total to 44 healthy human volunteers for 7 d as enterocoated tablets with daily doses of 1 x 109c.f.u.,4x lo9 and 8 x lo9 c.f.u. andinfermentedmilkwithdailydosesof2~1 x 109c.f.u. and 1.2 x 10'oc.f.u. All the volunteers excreted the organism by day 3 of the test period. There were no statistical differences in mean faecal Luctobuciffzts GG contents between the tablet groups. With fermented milk there was a clear, statistically significant increase in mean faecal Lactobacillus GG content when the administration was 1.2 x 10'' c.f.u./d compared to 2.1 x lo9 c.f.u./d. The results indicate that fermented milk and enterocoated tablets are good carriers for administering Lactobacillus GG as a probiotic organism. KEY
WORDS-Lactobacillus GG; Faecal colonisation; Human probiotic.
INTRODUCTION Lactobacilli are widely used as human probiotic bacteria. The dose required for effective colonisation of the human intestinal tract is often not known and is dependent on the stability of the bacterial strain in the gastrointestinal tract. Colonisation also relates to the ability of a particular Lactobacillus strain to tolerate gastric and bile acids and to adhere to the intestinal mucosa.' Lactobacillus spp. strain GG (Lactobacillus GG) has been shown to adhere to intestinal cells and human cell line^.^*^ Colonisation of the human intestine has been indicated after oral administration of 101o-lO*I c.f.u./d as a freezedried powder, fermented milk or as a fermented whey drink.539Elo and coworkers showed good adhesion of Lactobacillus G G to a human Caco-2 cell line and the adherence was significantly better than that of other dairy strains of lactobacilli or bifid~bacteria.~ The adhesion of Lactobacillus G G was later confirmed by Coconnier and coworkers,3 and Chauvierre and coworkers* reported that *Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: Dr S. Salminen, Foundation for Nutrition Research, PO Box 390, 00101 Helsinki. Finland. 0891-060X/93/030119--04 $07.00 0 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Lactobacillus G G had a high calcium-independent binding capacity to differentiated Caco-2 cells in culture. It is likely that these adhesion properties contribute to the colonisation reported earlier.5 Lactobacillus G G also has several properties which make it relatively easy to quantitate and identify in stooi samples.5L9Since it has also been successful in the treatment of infant diarrhoea caused by rotavirus,6 it is of interest to further evaluate the colonisation potential as one means of influencing the intestinal integrity. Also, the reported enhanced immune response during Lactobacillus GG treatment of infant diarrhoea' may be related to intestinal colonisation. Probiotic bacteria are mainly used in freeze-dried form as a powder, capsule or tablet, but the 'natural way' is to consume them in fermented milk products. In this study we evaluated the dose-response effect of oral Lactobacillus G G administration on human faecal colonisation. Fermented milks and enterocoated tablets (soluble in the duodenum in neutral pH conditions) containing freeze-dried Lactobacillus GG were administered to compare the effects of the carrier and to find the minimum colonising dose level.
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Table 1. Mean faecal Lactobacillus GG concentrations (log,, c.f.u./gk SD) during the supplementation period
Day/dose (c.f.u./d)
0 3 5
7
1 Tablet ( n = 8) (1 x lo9)
4 Tablets (n= 10) (4 x 109)
8 Tablets (n = 9) (8 x lo9)
Fermented milk (n= 10) (2.1 x 109)
Fermented milk (n = 7) (1.2 x 10’0)
ND 5-93 0.83 6.1 1 f 1.02 6.21 f0.91
ND 6.16f0.65 6.17 i 0 . 9 0 6.34 k0.78
ND 6.71 f0.65 6.89 f0.72 6.99 f0.77
ND 4.89 f 1.78” 5.47 0.42” 5.43f0.5 1a
ND 7.38 f0f$3b 7.07 f0.94b 7.27 f O . M b
+
N D = not detected, detection limit lo3c.f.u./g. Results with a superscript letter are significantly differect from each other (P
