The Cardiff Tracking Study
Use of Lactobacillus colony-based bacterial strain typing for tracking the fate of Lactobacillus strains during human consumption
SUMMARY
Lactobacillus acidophilus CUL21 (from Lab4 probiotic blend) and Lactobacillus salivarius CUL61 (from Lab4B probiotic blend) probiotic strains survived passage through gastrointestinal tract during probiotic consumption and were detected in the stool samples of healthy volunteers.
Aim
This study evaluated if the colony fingerprint technique (RAPD) could be used to track probiotics Lactobacillus acidophilus CUL21 (from Lab4) and Lactobacillus salivarius CUL61 (from Lab4B) during consumption by healthy volunteers.
Method
Results
Detection of Lactobacillus salivarius CUL61 and Lactobacillus acidophilus CUL21 in faecal samples of a healthy volunteer on day 7:
Image (A) shows L. salivarius CUL61 colonies from faecal sample grown on plate. The colonies are labelled as No. 6 and No. 7.
Image (B) shows L. acidophilus CUL21 colonies from faecal sample grown on plate. These colonies are labelled as No. 3, 4 and 5.
Image (C) shows the RAPD fingerprint technique results, as follows:
Lanes 6, 7 – the fingerprints of the L. salivarius CUL61 from colonies are the same as the original L. salivarius CUL61 control (Lane 1)
Lanes 3, 4, 5 – the fingerprints of the L. acidophilus CUL21 from colonies are the same as the original L. acidophilus CUL21 control (Lane 2)
Lane numbers correspond to the number labels for the colonies in the faecal samples (Images A and B).
Lane M – the marker fingerprint that checks that the reactions work.
Lane 1 – the fingerprint for the original control for L. salivarius CUL61.
Lane 2 – the fingerprint for the original control for L. acidophilus CUL21.
Conclusion
Probiotic strains Lactobacillus acidophilus CUL21 (from Lab4) and Lactobacillus salivarius CUL61 (from Lab4B) remained viable and can be ‘tracked’ through the gut passage during probiotic consumption by healthy volunteers.
Reference
Mahenthiralingam E et al 2009.
Use of colony-based bacterial strain typing for tracking the fate of Lactobacillus strains during human consumption. BMC Microbiology 9:251 (doi 10.1186/1471-2180-9-251)
