The coaggregation abilities of probiotic strains might enable it to form a barrier that prevents colonization by pathogenic bacteria. In the present study, the characterization of the coaggregation ability of 19 vaginal lactobacilli was studied. Coaggregation ability of all lactobacilli with Escherichia coli ATCC 11229 was positive. Only the highest coaggregation percentage of Lactobacillus acidophilus S1 was obtained with E. coli ATCC 11229 under both aerobic (71%) and anaerobic conditions (62%). The coaggregation abilities of strains occurred higher at acidic pH than at basic pH values. Moreover, the coaggregation abilities of tested strains against E. coli decreased after heat treatment (70 or 85• C). Also, the relationship between hydrophobicity and coaggregation of strains was found to be significant. The effect of sonication, some enzymes (lipase and pepsin) and sodium periodate on coaggregation ability of L. acidophilus S1, which is one of the highest potentials on coaggregation ability, was investigated. Sodium periodate did not have a significant effect on coaggregation ability of L. acidophilus S1. The sonicated cell showed lower coaggregation than the control, the supernatant fluid of this sonicated cells showed similar coaggregation ability to the control. Coaggregation abilities of bacteriotherapeutic lactobacilli with pathogenic bacteria can be used for preliminary screening in order to identify potentially probiotic bacteria suitable for human use against urogenital tract infections.

In this work, autoaggregation and factors involved in the autoaggregation ability of vaginal lactobacilli were studied. The autoaggregation ability of 28 lactobacilli strains was positive. The effects of various factors on autoaggregation were also evaluated. Lactobacillus jensenii A1, L. salivarius I1, and L. cellobiosus I3 showed higher autoaggregation in acidic conditions and lower autoaggregation in hot (70 and 85oC) conditions. The L. salivarius I1 strain, which exhibited high autoaggregation activity, also showed good autoaggregation in pepsin, lipase, and sodium periodate, as well as under conditions of sonication and heat. The results of this study suggest that lactobacilli showing high autoaggregation may constitute an important host defense mechanism against infections as a probiotic

In this study, the capacity of 30 strains of lactobacilli to coaggregate with Candida albicans ATCC 10239, C. albicans AJD 180 and Candida krusei ATCC 6258 were studied in vitro. A marked coaggregation with C. albicans was observed for two strains of Lactobacillus crispatus, a strain of Lactobacillus cellobiosus and a strain of Lactobacillus salivarius. Coaggregation occurred at a pH range from 3 to 7, some strains showing optimal binding at high and other strains at low pH. Treatment of lactobacilli at 70 or 85 °C for 20 min or treatment of the bacteria with pepsin abolished their capacity of coaggregation. The results may be of importance when trying to establish probiotics for vaginal use.