Recovery of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG from human colonic biopsies

Abstract

The colonization of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (ATCC 53103, henceforth L.GG) in five human colonoscopy patients was studied. The test subjects consumed whey drink fermented with the bacterium for 12 d before the colonoscopy. The presence of L.GG was subsequently checked both in the faecal samples and in the colonic biopsies obtained from various locations in the large intestine. In all patients L.GG was the dominant faecal lactic acid bacterium as a result of the administration. In four patients L.GG could also be recovered from the biopsies, while with one patient (suffering from ulcerative colitis diagnosed during the colonoscopy) no L.GG was detected in the biopsy samples. The results suggest that L.GG is able to adhere in vivo to the colon. Study of the faecal samples alone is apparently not sufficient for elucidation of the gastrointestinal ecology of probiotic bacteria.

Human ileostomy glycoproteins as a model for small intestinal mucus to investigate adhesion of probiotics

“…Crociani et al (1995) reported bifidobacterial adhesion to Caco-2 cells to be inconsistent with human colonization by the same strains. Furthermore, probiotic Lactobacillus GG expressing high adhesion to ileostomy glycoproteins in the current study has been shown to adhere to the Caco-2 cell line Coconnier et al 1992;Lehto and Salminen 1997;Tuomola and Salminen 1998), to colonize human volunteers based on faecal isolation after consumption of the bacteria (Goldin et al 1992;Saxelin et al 1991), and to be present on colonic biopsies (Alander et al 1997), indicating that in the case of Lactobacillus GG, the in vitro and in vivo results are in agreement. This contrasts with the results for the Lact.…”

Effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG on ileal pouch inflammation and microbial flora

“…23 The ability of Lactobacillus GG to survive in the intestinal canal 12,24 and to colonize the gastrointestinal tract 13,25 has been shown for both adults and children. 26 In healthy intestines, the colonization is prolonged for about 1 week, 25 but the colon of one patient with ulcerative colitis was not colonized by Lactobacillus GG.…”

“…26 In healthy intestines, the colonization is prolonged for about 1 week, 25 but the colon of one patient with ulcerative colitis was not colonized by Lactobacillus GG. 13 Our knowledge of the ability of Lactobacillus GG to colonize the human small bowel after colectomy is limited. In our trial, Lactobacillus GG was recovered in the faecal flora in 40% of cases, but was not found in mucosal biopsies.…”

“…8 Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG is a safe probiotic bacterium, relatively resistant to acid and bile, which adheres in vitro to epithelial cells and intestinal mucus, 9,10 elaborates an antimicrobial substance 11 and transiently colonizes the human intestine. 12,13 Lactobacillus GG has shown promise in the treatment of rotavirus, 14 travellers' 15 and relapsing Clostridium difficile 16 diarrhoea. Although recent studies have provided evidence that beneficial probiotic bacteria can reduce relapses of chronic pouchitis, many questions remain with regard to the dosage required and the selection of the probiotic strain: do we need probiotic cocktails together with antibiotics for a clinical response or is a single probiotic strain effective?…”

Antibiotic susceptibility of Lactobacillus rhamnosus strains isolated from Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

“…The reason for focusing on Lactobacillus rhamnosus strains is tied to many studies, in which the positive effects of the attachment of this particular micro-organism to human intestinal mucosa are reported [3,19,30,31,35,37].…”