Influence of a combination of two potential probiotic strains, Lactobacillus rhamnosus IMC 501® and Lactobacillus paracasei IMC 502® on bowel habits of healthy adults

Abstract

Aims:\ud This study aims to investigate the effect of different kinds of food products enriched with a combination of two potential probiotic strains, Lactobacillus rhamnosus IMC 501 (R) and Lactobacillus paracasei IMC 502 (R), on bowel habits of healthy adults.\ud Methods and Results:\ud Fifty healthy volunteers took part in a double-blind placebo probiotic feeding study (25 fed probiotics, 25 fed placebo) for 12 weeks. Each volunteer ingested daily one or more food products enriched with a combination of the two potential probiotic strains (probiotic group) or the same food products without the probiotics (control group). Faecal samples were collected before, at the end and 2 weeks later the intervention period, and some of the main groups of faecal bacteria were enumerated by plate count and real-time PCR. Questionnaires on bowel habits were submitted to volunteers. After the intervention, a significant increase in faecal lactobacilli and bifidobacteria were observed in the probiotic group, and stool frequency and stool volume were higher in the probiotic group than in the placebo group.\ud Conclusions:\ud Daily consumption of food products enriched with the two potential probiotic strains, Lact. rhamnosus IMC 501 (R) and Lact. paracasei IMC 502 (R), contributes to improve intestinal microbiota with beneficial properties and enhances bowel habits of healthy adults.\ud Significance and Impact of the Study:\ud The study revealed that Lact. rhamnosus IMC 501 (R) and Lact. paracasei IMC 502 (R) exert a positive effect, in terms of improved bowel habits, on healthy adults

Evaluation of antipathogenic activity and adherence properties of human Lactobacillus strains for vaginal formulations

“…These results can support the use of probiotic combination to improve their efficacy (Verdenelli et al . ). Lactobacillus plantarum 319 has also given very good results as inhibitory activity.…”

“…; Verdenelli et al . ). During 6 months of storage at room temperature, Witepsol ® ovules were the formulation that showed the highest suitability to preserve viable microorganism during time.…”

“…Lactobacillus rhamnosus IMC 501 ® and Lactobacillus paracasei IMC 502 ® were characterized as probiotics in previous studies (Verdenelli et al . , ). Candida strains (Table ) were clinically isolated from human vagina and supplied by Istituto Superiore di Sanità in Rome.…”

Congruent Strain Specific Intestinal Persistence of Lactobacillus plantarum in an Intestine-Mimicking In Vitro System and in Human Volunteers

“…by methods based on physiological characteristics like sugar utilization capacity [15]. Alternative discriminatory methods rely on molecular typing techniques like plasmid or genomic DNA profiling using restriction enzyme analysis (REA) [15], pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) [47], [48], or PCR based fingerprinting techniques like random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) [49], arbitrarily primed PCR (AP-PCR) [14], PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) [14], internal transcribed spacer PCR (ITS-PCR) [47], or Real-Time PCR [14], [50]. Generally, these techniques are labor-intensive and cannot be applied in a high-throughput manner.…”

Lactobacillus rhamnosus Accelerates Zebrafish Backbone Calcification and Gonadal Differentiation through Effects on the GnRH and IGF Systems

“…We chose zebrafish as our model because of its short life cycle, well documented gonad developmental profile and the fact that the calcification process of the skeleton has been previously described [12]. The LAB strain we selected was Lactobacillus rhamnosus, which is one of the main components of the commensal microflora of human intestinal tract of and is widely used as a probiotic in mammals [13]–[15].…”