• Toxicological Research
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.99-106
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• 2013

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has become a significant threat to public health. Although broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy is the primary treatment option for CDI, its use has evident limitations. Probiotics have been proved to be effective in the treatment of CDI and are a promising therapeutic option for CDI. In this study, 4 strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), namely, Lactobacillus rhamnosus (LR5), Lactococcuslactis (SL3), Bifidobacterium breve (BR3), and Bifidobacterium lactis (BL3) were evaluated for their anti-C. difficile activity. Co-culture incubation of C. difficile ($10^6$ and $10^{10}$ CFU/ml) with each strain of LAB indicated that SL3 possessed the highest antimicrobial activity over a 24-hr period. The cell-free supernatants of the 4 LAB strains exhibited $MIC_{50}$ values between 0.424 mg/ml (SL3) and 1.318 (BR3) mg/ml. These results may provide a basis for alternative therapies for the treatment of C. difficile-associated gut disorders.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.98-109
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• 2024

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The efficacy of Lab4 probiotic and vitamin C combination on the prevention of upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) was investigated in two studies with children. Our objective was to pool dataset of 57 preschool children from the PROCHILD study (ISRCTN28722693) and the dataset of 50 preschool matched cohort from the PROCHILD-2 study (ISRCTN26587549) to evaluate the impact of probiotic/vitamin C combination on the prevention of upper respiratory tract symptoms and provide a more robust assessment of effect using detailed individual level data. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The children were supplemented daily for 6 months with either the multistrain probiotic (1.25×10¹⁰ cfu/tablet consisting of two strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus CUL21 and CUL60, Bifidobacterium bifidum CUL20 and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis CUL34) plus 50 mg vitamin C or a placebo. RESULTS: In the pooled analysis of the individual participant data (per protocol population), significant reductions were observed for the incidence (-25%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66, 0.85; P < 0.0001) and duration (-14.9 days; 95% CI, -24.8, -5.1; P = 0.0030) of typical URTI symptoms in the active group compared with the placebo. The incidence rates of absenteeism from preschool (IR ratio, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.66, 0.86; P < 0.0001), paediatric visits (IR ratio, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.47; 0.68; P < 0.0001) and antibiotic usage (IR ratio, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.39, 0.71; P < 0.0001) were also significantly reduced. CONCLUSION: The pooled analysis findings of comparable preschool cohorts from two studies indicate that the supplementation with probiotic and vitamin C combination is beneficial in the prevention and management of URTI symptoms.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.199-205
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• 2004

The nucleotide sequence of 8.6-kb EcoRI fragment containing sucrose phosphorylase gene isolated from Bifidobacterium longum SJ32 was determined. It was found that the fragment contained five open reading frames including the gene cluster for sucrose utilization such as a sucrose phosphorylase (ScrP), a sucrose transporter (ScrT), and a GalR-LacI-type transcriptional regulator (ScrR) identified by amino acid homology. Each gene showed over 94% amino acid homology among various B. longum strains. Genomic organization of the gene cluster is the same as those of other strains of B. longum but different from that of B. lactis. In spite of high homology of each gene among B. longum strains, the difference of flanking sequences of the gene cluster between strains SJ32 and NCC2705 insinuates the horizontal transfer of scrPTR between B. longum strains. The increase of sucrose phosphorylase activity in heterologous E. coli system by the co-expression of scrT with scrP against the single expression of scrP was measured. It seems to be the result of sucrose uptake increment by scrT in the host and is an indirect evidence that scrT is the gene for sucrose transport. The existence of multiple sucrose uptake systems in B. longum is supposed from the findings of several genes besides scrPTR involved in sucrose uptake in the genome of B. longum NCC2705.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.348-354
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• 2003

This study was conducted to confirm the availability of lactic acid bacteria as probiotics haying inhibitory effects to cancer cell line. Five lactic acid bacteria showing anti-cancer activity were compared by acid tolerance, bile tolerance, antibiotics resistance, milk fermentation, stability, and cell adherence activity to colon epithelial cell. The results obtained are as follows : In acid tolerance, all strains did not have a resistance below pH 3.0 and 3.5 except Lactobacillus plantarum KCTC3099. In antibiotics resistance, Lactococcus lactis and L. plantarum KCTC3099 were resistant to cotrimoxazol (128 mg/1), and Bifidobacterium adolescentis Maeil-K8 and B. infantis Maeil-K9 were resistant to doxycylin and gentamycin (4 mg/1). In case of cell adherence ability to Caco-2 cell, B. infantis Maeil-K9 was found to be superior to others as 3.1%, while the others were less than 0.5%. When the strains were cultured to milk base, viable counts of the strains tested increased more 1 log cycle than inoculation, but acid production was very low except L. plantarum KCTC3099. Also, L. plantarum KCTC3099, B. adolescentis Maeil-K8, and B. infantis Maeil-K9 were stable in fermented milk base during storage. In conclusion, L. plantarum KCTC3099 and B. infantis Maeil-K9 were confirmed to be superior for the availability as probiotics.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.216-222
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• 2014

their survival rates could be affected by various factors such as diet, stress, senescence, and antibiotics. This study was performed to evaluate the influence of various spices (garlic, ginger, scallion, onion, Chungyang red pepper, and red pepper) which have antimicrobial properties and used frequently in Korean diet, and propolis on probiotics isolated from Koreans. As a result, most Korean probiotic strains were resistant to all spices tested and propolis, and the growth rates of some Korean probiotic strains (Bifidobacterium lactis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Streptococcus thermophiles) were even increased by specific spices or propolis. But on the other hand, the growth rates of most of european probiotic strains were reduced by various spices or propolis, and the growth rates of a few european probiotic strains (L. helveticus, S. thermophiles) were greatly decreased in the presence of specific spices. Likewise, all commercial probiotic products including Korean probiotic strains were rarely affected by spices tested. However, european probiotic product tended to be greatly reduced by garlic, onion, scallion, and propolis. Therefore, these results indicate that probiotic strains isolated from Korean have the strong viability and resistance to various spices with antimicrobial properties, so that they might be appropriate for Korean intestine.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.395-403
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• 2022

In this study, we identified that the fermentation of Korean indigenous probiotics and red ginseng produced ginsenoside compound K (CK) from major ginsenosides. Based on whole genome sequencing of 19 probiotics species, β-glucosidase, α-arabinofuranosidase, β-xylosidase, and α-rhamnosidase related to bioconversion of ginsenosides are identified in the genome of 19 species, 3 species, 6 species, and 8 species, respectively. Among the 19 probiotics species, Bifidobacterium longum CBT BG7 converted from ginsenoside Rb1 to CK, and both B. breve CBT BR3 and B. lactis CBT BL3 converted ginsenoside Rb1 to Rd. The final concentration and yield of ginsenoside F2 and CK were higher in the fermentation with the nondisrupted cells than with disrupted cells. The combination of both CBT BG7 and BL3, and CBT BG7 and BR3 showed higher amounts of F2 than CBT BG7 only. CBT BG7 with adding α-amylase increased the amounts of F2. In this study, we identified that the fermentation of both Korean indigenous probiotic bacteria CBT BG7, BR3 and BL3, and red gingseng is able to produce CK, a bioactive compound that promotes health benefits.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.464-471
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• 2020

Purpose: Some probiotic strains reduce the duration of acute diarrhea. Because of strain and product specificity, each product needs to be supported by clinical data. This study aimed to test the efficacy of the synbiotic food supplement Probiotical (Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium lactis, Bifidobacterium infantis, fructo-oligosaccharides) in children with acute gastroenteritis of likely infectious origin. The primary endpoint was the number of children with normal stool consistency during the treatment duration. Methods: A total of 46 children (aged 3.6 months to 12 years) with acute gastroenteritis that started less than 48 hours prior to their visit at a hospital-based emergency department were included in this prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. All children were treated with oral rehydration solution and placebo (n=20) or the test product (n=26). Results: Significantly more children had a normal stool consistency on days 1 and 2 in the probiotic group: 5 children (20%) on day 1 in the probiotic group compared with none in the placebo group (p=0.046). On day 2, 11 children in the probiotic group (46%) and 3 (16%) in the placebo group (p=0.024) had a normal stool consistency. The mean duration of diarrhea was shorter in the probiotic group compared with that in the placebo group (3.04±1.36 vs. 4.20±1.34 days) (p=0.018). Conclusion: The test product was shown to normalize stool consistency significantly more rapidly than the placebo. These data confirm the findings from a previous study in a larger group of children performed in a primary healthcare setting.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.906-916
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• 2017

To investigate the effects of a single bacterium and a mixture of bacteria as probiotics in loperamide-treated animal models, loperamide (3 mg/kg) was administered to SD rats to induce constipation. The individual lactic acid bacterial doses, Enterococcus faecium (EF), Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA), Streptococcus thermophilus (ST), Bifidobacterium bifidum (BB), Bifidobacterium lactis (BL), Pediococcus pentosaceus (PP), and a mixture of the bacteria were orally administered to loperamide-induced constipated rats at a concentration of $10^8CFU/kg$ for 14 days. The weights and water contents of their stools were found to be significantly higher in PP, CKDB (mixture of 5 strains except PP), and CKDBP (CKDB+PP) groups than in the normal (constipation not induced) and the control (constipation-induced) groups (p<0.05). The intestinal transit ratio was significantly higher in all probiotic-treated groups than in the control group, and was the highest in the CKDBP group (p<0.05). The mucosal length and mucus secretion were significantly improved in all probiotic-treated-groups, as compared to that in the control group, and the CKDBP group was found to be the most effective according to immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining and total short chain fatty acid content analysis (p<0.05). Lastly, PP, CKDB, and CKDBP showed relatively higher Lactobacillus sp. ratios of 61.94%, 60.31% and 51.94%, respectively, compared to the other groups, based on metagenomic analysis.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1421-1429
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• 2017

The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of dietary provision of lactic acid bacteria (LB) and sea tangle (ST) on the obesity-associated intestinal microbiota in rats with obesity induced by a high-fat diet. Forty-eight 8-wk-old Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a basal diet (CON), a high fat diet (HFD; CON supplemented with 10% lard), HF supplemented with LB [HFL; $5{\times}10^8cfu$ of each of Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus johnsonii, Bifidobacterium longum and Bifidobacterium lactis], or HFL containing 10% ST (HFLS), with 4 replicates (cages) of 3 rats per dietary treatment, for 6 wk, and the intestinal microbiota were determined by pyrosequencing. The HFL and HFLS groups exhibited reduced rates of weight gain than the HF group, and the former groups had smaller ratios of Firmicutes and greater ratios of Bacteriodetes, with decreased Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratios, than the latter at the level of the phylum. Compared with the results for the HF group, HFL and HFLS had reduced ratios of the families of Roseburia, Mollicute, Erysipelotrichi, and Oscillibacter within Firmicutes associated with obesity and increased ratios of the families of Prevotella, Alistipes and Bacteroides within the Bacterioidetes phylum known to have an anti-obesity effect. The content of butyric acid in feces was greater in the HFLS group vs. HF and HFL. In conclusion, the present results suggest that dietary provision of LB plus ST has an anti-obesity effect and induced changes in intestinal microorganisms, and enhanced the content of butyric acid, which is an intestinal metabolite.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.231-237
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• 2016

Kefir is a probiotic food. Probiotics have shown to be beneficial to health, and are currently of great interest to the food industry. Hence, this study was carried out to evaluate the lactase activity of kefir-isolated lactic acid bacteria. Three strains, Lactobacillu kefiri DH5 isolated from the kefir grains and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis and Bifidobacteria longum 720, commercial probiotic LAB, were fermented in 10% reconstituted nonfat dry milk suspensions and incubated at $37^{\circ}C$ for 48 h, and then analyzed for various saccarides by HPLC. The results showed that changes in the concentrations of lactose and galactose were significantly decreased and increased, respectively (p<0.05), but all 3 probiotic strains tested in this study showed no increase in glucose concentration during 48 h of incubation. Both DH5 and BL720 showed high lactase activities (p<0.05), whereas BLC exhibited the lowest activity. Additionally, all three lactic acid bacteria showed high tagatose, but did not show high xylose and sedoheptulose. Finally, DH5, a kefir-isolated LAB, may have similar characteristics and properties to typical Bifidobacterium spp. and showed higher lactase activity than commercial Bifidobacterium spp.