Epp Songisepp

Hypocaloric diet supplemented with probiotic cheese improves body mass index and blood pressure indices of obese hypertensive patients - a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled pilot study

BackgroundGut lactobacilli can affect the metabolic functions of healthy humans. We tested whether a 1500 kcal/d diet supplemented with cheese containing the probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum TENSIA (Deutsche Sammlung für Mikroorganismen, DSM 21380) could reduce some symptoms of metabolic syndrome in Russian adults with obesity and hypertension.MethodsIn this 3-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel pilot study, 25 subjects ingested probiotic cheese and 15 ingested control cheese. Fifty grams of each cheese provided 175 kcal of energy. Blood pressure (BP), anthropometric characteristics, markers of liver and kidney function, metabolic indices (plasma glucose, lipids, and cholesterol), and urine polyamines were measured. Counts of fecal lactobacilli and L. plantarum TENSIA were evaluated using molecular methods. The data were analyzed by t-test for independent samples and Spearman’s partial correlation analysis.ResultsThe probiotic L. plantarum TENSIA was present in variable amounts (529.6 ± 232.5 gene copies) in 16/25 (64%) study subjects. Body mass index (BMI) was significantly reduced (p = 0.031) in the probiotic cheese group versus the control cheese group. The changes in BMI were closely associated with the water content of the body (r = 0.570, p = 0.0007) when adjusted for sex and age. Higher values of intestinal lactobacilli after probiotic cheese consumption were associated with higher BMI (r = 0.383, p = 0.0305) and urinary putrescine content (r = 0.475, p = 0.006). In patients simultaneously treated with BP-lowering drugs, similar reductions of BP were observed in both groups. A positive association was detected between TENSIA colonization and the extent of change of morning diastolic BP (r = 0.617, p = 0.0248) and a trend toward lower values of morning systolic BP (r = −0.527, p = 0.0640) at the end of the study after adjusting for BMI, age, and sex.ConclusionIn a pilot study of obese hypertensive patients, a hypocaloric diet supplemented with a probiotic cheese helps to reduce BMI and arterial BP values, recognized symptoms of metabolic syndrome.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN76271778

Safety of a probiotic cheese containing Lactobacillus plantarum Tensia according to a variety of health indices in different age groups

Safety of the probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum strain Tensia (DSM 21380) was tested in vitro, in semihard Edam-type cheese, in an animal model and after consumption of the probiotic cheese in double-blind randomized placebo-controlled human intervention studies with different age groups. The susceptibility of L. plantarum Tensia to 8 antibiotics, and the presence of tetracycline (tet M, S, O, K, L) genes and class 1 integron was assessed by applying epsilometer-test and PCR-based methods. Production of biogenic amines by the probiotic strain in decarboxylation medium containing 1% of l-histidine, l-glutamine, l-ornithine, l-arginine, or l-lysine and in cheese was tested by gas chromatography. The biosafety of L. plantarum Tensia was evaluated on National Institutes of Health-line mice fed cheese containing Tensia at a concentration of 9.6 log cfu/g for 30 consecutive days. In human intervention trials in adults and the elderly, the effects of different doses of Edam-type cheese and the probiotic bacterium on BW, gut functionality indices, and host metabolism were evaluated. The strain L. plantarum Tensia was susceptible to all tested antibiotics and did not possess the tetracycline resistance-determining genes tet(L), tet(S) and tet(O), nor did it contain the integron (Int1) gene. However, the strain was tet(K) and tet(M) positive. Lactobacillus plantarum Tensia did not produce potentially harmful biogenic amines, such as histamine or cadaverine. The amount of tyramine produced in the cheese environment during ripening and after 15 wk of storage was below the clinically significant content. In the animal model, no translocation of the administered strain or other microbes into the blood or organs of mice was detected. No harmful effect was observed on body mass index, inflammatory markers, or serum lipidograms during human intervention trials with different age groups at a daily dose of 10.3 or 8.17 log cfu/serving for 3 wk. No negative effect on gastrointestinal welfare was observed, but the consumption of 100g/d for 3 wk caused hard stools from the second week of the trial. The content of total lactobacilli increased in feces, and the presence of the ingested probiotic strain was confirmed after the consumption of cheese. Thus, L. plantarum strain Tensia is suitable for generally recognized as safe (GRAS) and qualified presumption of safety (QPS) criteria because it did not have any undesirable characteristics. The regular semihard Edam-type cheese (fat content of 26%) with the probiotic additive at a daily dose of 50 g or in excess (100g) and with a probiotic daily dose of 10 log cfu for 3 wk was safe.

An antioxidant probiotic reduces postprandial lipemia and oxidative stress

Reducing postprandial oxidative stress (OxS), decreasing postprandial blood triglyceride level (TG) and improving lipoprotein status is likely to have a preventive impact on the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Previously we have shown that the antioxidant probiotic Lactobacillus fermentum ME-3 (DSM14241) is characterized by antiatherogenic effects. This randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study evaluated the influence of kefir enriched with an antioxidative probiotic L. fermentum ME-3 (LfKef) on postprandial OxS, blood TG response and lipoprotein status. 100 clinically healthy subjects were recruited into the study. Blood parameters of postprandial OxS, TG and lipoprotein status were determined by oxidized LDL, baseline diene conjugation in LDL (BDC-LDL), oxidized LDL complex with beta-2 glycoprotein (Beta2-GPI-oxLDL), paraoxonase (PON) activity, LDL-Chol, HDL-Chol and TG. To evaluate general body postprandial OxS-load we measured 8-isoprostanes (8-EPI) in the urine. Consumption of LfKef significantly reduced the postprandial level of oxidized LDL, BDC-LDL, Beta2-GPI-oxLDL, urinary 8-isoprostanes and postprandial TG and caused a significant increase in HDL-Chol and PON activity. This is the first evidence that kefir enriched with an antioxidant probiotic may have a positive effect on both postprandial OxS and TG response as well as on lipoprotein status.

Biodiversity of Intestinal Lactic Acid Bacteria in the Healthy Population

The complex ecosystem of the gastrointestinal tract involves tight interrelations among host cells, diet, and billions of microbes, both beneficial and opportunistic pathogens. In spite of advanced genomic, metagenomic, and metabonomic approaches, knowledge is still quite limited regarding the biodiversity of beneficial microbiota, including Lactobacillus spp., and its impact on the main biomarkers of general health. In this paper, Lactobacillus biodiversity is demonstrated through its taxonomy, function, and host-microbial interactions. Its prevalence, composition, abundance, intertwined metabolic properties, and relation to host age, genotype, and socioeconomic factors are reviewed based on the literature and original research experience. The species richness, e.g., the biodiversity of gut microbiota, provides the host with a variety of metabolically active species and strains that predict their response for different health conditions and extrinsic interventions. Metabolically active and safe Lactobacillus species and specific strains with particular functional properties increase the biodiversity of the whole intestinal microbiota. The elaborated principles for effective application of probiotics are discussed, aimed at regulating the composition of microbiota simultaneously with blood and urine biomarkers at the borderline of normality. This approach targets the impact of probiotic strains to maintenance of health with anti-infectious, cardiovascular, and metabolic support.

New insights into the impact of Lactobacillus population on host-bacteria metabolic interplay

We aimed at evaluating the association between intestinal Lactobacillus sp. composition and their metabolic activity with the host metabolism in adult and elderly individuals. Faecal and plasma metabolites were measured and correlated to the Lactobacillus species distribution in healthy Estonian cohorts of adult (n = 16; < 48 y) and elderly (n = 33; > 65 y). Total cholesterol, LDL, C-reactive protein and glycated hemoglobin were statistically higher in elderly, while platelets, white blood cells and urinary creatinine were higher in adults. Aging was associated with the presence of L. paracasei and L. plantarum and the absence of L. salivarius and L. helveticus. High levels of intestinal Lactobacillus sp. were positively associated with increased concentrations of faecal short chain fatty acids, lactate and essential amino acids. In adults, high red blood cell distribution width was positively associated with presence of L. helveticus and absence of L. ruminis. L. helveticus was correlated to lactate and butyrate in faecal waters. This indicates a strong relationship between the composition of the gut Lactobacillus sp. and host metabolism. Our results confirm that aging is associated with modulations of blood biomarkers and intestinal Lactobacillus species composition. We identified specific Lactobacillus contributions to gut metabolic environment and related those to blood biomarkers. Such associations may prove useful to decipher the biological mechanisms underlying host-gut microbial metabolic interactions in an ageing population.

Probiotics and Oxidative Stress

A large number of reports about the health benefits of probiotics could be found in the PubMed database. Very little information is available about probiotics possessing physiologically relevant antioxidative properties. Quite scarce is information on the influence of probiotics on human body oxidative stress status and a limited number of clinical trials have been conducted on the effect of antioxidative lactic acid bacteria on human oxidative stressdriven cardiovascular disease-related aspects. In this chapter possibilities of antioxidative probiotics to influence on oxidative stress status in human body are discussed.

Fermented whey-based product improves the quality of life of males with moderate lower urinary tract symptoms: A randomized double-blind study

Purpose The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effect of a specific fermented whey product on lower urinary tract symptoms, main prostate related indices and oxidative stress/inflammatory markers in urine and seminal plasma in men with moderate dysuric symptoms. An additional purpose was to clarify associations between different parameters with special emphasis on pain. Methods This was a prospective randomized double-blind 4-weeks study on men with moderate lower urinary tract symptoms who underwent the evaluation for quality of life at the baseline and at the end of the study. The symptoms were characterized by International Prostate Symptom Score (I-PSS) and National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-PSI), the maximum urinary flow and the main prostate-related indices. In order to obtain more comprehensive information about the effects of fermented whey product on systemic oxidative stress marker 8-EPI and seminal plasma inflammatory markers (interleukin-6 and interleukin-8) were also measured. Results After 4 weeks consumption of fermented whey product there was a statistically significant decrease of prostate-specific antigen level in serum and systemic stress marker 8-EPI in urine compared to control group. Maximum urinary flow and NIH-PSI all studied scores and sub-scores had also significant improvement. In addition, seminal plasma interleukin-8 level substantially decreased. Conclusions The consumption of special fermented whey product improved urinary function, reduced lower urinary tract symptoms, systemic oxidative stress marker and seminal plasma inflammatory status. Thus it contributed to an improvement of the quality of life in men with moderate lower urinary tract symptoms.

Ülevaade: Biokirme kui oluline tegur piima ja piimatoodete saastes termotolerantsete bakteritega

Saabunud / Received 01.06.17 ; Aktsepteeritud / Accepted 20.06.17 ; Avaldatud veebis / Published online 20.06.17 ; Vastutav autor / Corresponding author: Priit Elias ; priit.elias@tptak.ee