Effects of Administration of TOS and Bifidobacterium breve 4006 on the Human Fecal Flora

Abstract

We studied the effects of administration of TOS , a new growth factor derived from lactose for Bifidobacterium, and Bifidobacterium breve 4006 on the fecal flora of normal subjects. All of the Bifidobacterium species tested , eight reference strains and B. breve 4006 were capable of fermenting TOS in vitro , while others, 2 Bacteroides strains and 4 Lactobacillus and Enterobacteriaceae strains , showed an appreciable growth among 55 cultures tested. It was evident that TOS is not intestinally absorbed by the recipient subjects, from hydrogen breath test . In vivo, TOS (3g or 10g/day) was observed to promote the growth of both administered B. breve 4006 and resident Bifidobacterium strains. Simultaneous administration of B. breve 4006 and TOS caused the suppression of gram negative anaerobes and aerobes, Bacteroidaceae and Enterobacteriaceae , and the reduction of fecal ammonia and urinary indican excretion . It is concluded that TOS is a typical bifidus factor.

Evaluation of Prebiotic Effects of High-Purity Galactooligosaccharides in vitro and in vivo

“…Our results indicated a positive eff ect in the synbiotic group (HP-GOS+BB) during the test periods. It is known that most bifi dobacteria strains of human intestinal origin can readily use galactooligosaccharides; however, only a few strains from other genera, such as lactobacilli, possess this ability (24,26). As far as the eff ects of probiotic consumption on the bifi dobacterial population are concerned, similar results have been observed in children and adults.…”

“…It has been shown that 4'-galactosyl-lactose is selectively utilized by all the Bifi dobacterium strains tested, compared with lactulose and raffi nose, whose specifi city is less noticeable. Other studies have also shown that some strains of Lactobacillus, Bacteroides and Clostridium ferment GOS, and that transgalactosylated disaccharides may even be bett er substrates for these bacteria (26). Some bacterial species can ferment both 4'-and 6'-galactosyl-lactose, although there are some diff erences and the growth of bacteria is dose-dependent.…”

In Vivo Selection To Identify Bacterial Strains with Enhanced Ecological Performance in Synbiotic Applications

“…This accounts for experiments using synbiotic formulations in humans (61), rats (62,63), and other animal models (64). These findings suggest that, with few exceptions (17)(18)(19), probiotic strains are unable to compete against the resident gut microbiota, which is inherently resistant to outside colonizers (65), even when an exogenous growth substrate in the form of a prebiotic is provided.…”

“…Unfortunately, successful synergistic synbiotic combinations are not well established in the literature despite a large number of studies. To our knowledge, only two reports describe a synbiotic combination in which the prebiotic significantly enhanced the stability, persistence, or metabolic activity of a specific probiotic strain in vivo (17)(18)(19). As noted by Kolida and Gibson (16), this low success rate may be explained by the selection of most synbiotic combinations on an arbitrary basis, including shelf life, industrial performance, availability, and cost.…”

“…As noted by Kolida and Gibson (16), this low success rate may be explained by the selection of most synbiotic combinations on an arbitrary basis, including shelf life, industrial performance, availability, and cost. Indeed, few synbiotic preparations are formulated based on a rational selection of both the prebiotic and the probiotic (12,16), such as via in vitro or in vivo screens assessing the ability of the probiotic to utilize the prebiotic (17)(18)(19)(20)(21). Even if synbiotic formulations were based on these criteria, synergism between the probiotic strain and the prebiotic was rarely observed in human and animal trials (22)(23)(24).…”