Postbiotics-parabiotics: the new horizons in microbial biotherapy and functional foods

Abstract

Probiotics have several health benefits by modulating gut microbiome; however, techno-functional limitations such as viability controls have hampered their full potential applications in the food and pharmaceutical sectors. Therefore, the focus is gradually shifting from viable probiotic bacteria towards non-viable paraprobiotics and/or probiotics derived biomolecules, so-called postbiotics. Paraprobiotics and postbiotics are the emerging concepts in the functional foods field because they impart an array of health-promoting properties. Although, these terms are not well defined, however, for time being these terms have been defined as here. The postbiotics are the complex mixture of metabolic products secreted by probiotics in cell-free supernatants such as enzymes, secreted proteins, short chain fatty acids, vitamins, secreted biosurfactants, amino acids, peptides, organic acids, etc. While, the paraprobiotics are the inactivated microbial cells of probiotics (intact or ruptured containing cell components such as peptidoglycans, teichoic acids, surface proteins, etc.) or crude cell extracts (i.e. with complex chemical composition)". However, in many instances postbiotics have been used for whole category of postbiotics and parabiotics. These elicit several advantages over probiotics like; (i) availability in their pure form, (ii) ease in production and storage, (iii) availability of production process for industrial-scale-up, (iv) specific mechanism of action, (v) better accessibility of Microbes Associated Molecular Pattern (MAMP) during recognition and interaction with Pattern Recognition Receptors (PRR) and (vi) more likely to trigger only the targeted responses by specific ligand-receptor interactions. The current review comprehensively summarizes and discussed various methodologies implied to extract, purify, and identification of paraprobiotic and postbiotic compounds and their potential health benefits.

Heat-Treated Bifidobacterium longum CECT-7347: A Whole-Cell Postbiotic with Antioxidant, Anti-Inflammatory, and Gut-Barrier Protection Properties

“…Probiotic strains have been reported to help maintain the homeostasis of intestinal function, by regulating the expression of TJ proteins at cell boundaries, reducing adverse effects of pathogens, and protecting them from oxidative stress-induced damage, by scavenging ROS and/or preventing their formation while modulating inflammatory cascades [ 9 , 31 , 34 ]. Similarly, beneficial properties have been documented in non-viable probiotics, including anti-inflammatory, anti-pathogen adhesion, and gut barrier function attributes [ 6 , 10 , 14 , 62 ].…”

“…By extension, non-viable, generally heat-treated probiotic microorganisms have been shown to exert anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo [ 9 , 10 ]. Jointly known as postbiotics, probiotic subcellular fractions, and non-living preparations are gathering interest both from the scientific and industrial sectors.…”

Evaluation of the probiotic and postbiotic potential of lactic acid bacteria from artisanal dairy products against pathogens

“…Artisanal dairy products are known to harbor diverse probiotics LAB [35]. Exploring the antagonistic potential of LAB species from indigenous South Asian fermented produce against human pathogens is not without precedent, as many studies suggest [36]; however, their postbiotic characteristics have been little explored even though some have found application in animal feed and cancer therapy [37]. Species identification was made through the widely established 16S rRNA gene sequencing technique [38] which revealed all as LAB species.…”

Wine and Non-Dairy Fermented Beverages: A Novel Source of Pro- and Prebiotics

“…These compounds are resistant to hydrolysis by mammalian enzymes [3], and are described as also having the proposed health effects of the addition of probiotics. Postbiotics can be divided into paraprobiotics (also called ghost or inactivated probiotics) that are "non-viable microbial cells, intact or broken, or crude cell extracts which when administered in sufficient amounts, confer benefits on the human consumer", like S. boulardii, that can enhance barrier function against species, and improves angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo in epithelial cells by activation of α2β1 integrin collagen receptors [26]; and probioceuticals/probiotaceuticals which defines probiotic resulting factors such as reuterin from Lactobacillus reuteri [27]. The denomination of FIFs (fortified infant foods) can also be used to designate "infant or follow-on formula" that has been fermented with lactic acid-producing or other bacteria and in most cases does not contain viable bacteria [28].…”