Premium
In vivo safety assessment of Lactobacillus fermentum strains, evaluation of their cholesterol‐lowering ability and intestinal microbial modulation
Author(s) -
Thumu Surya Chandra Rao,
Halami Prakash M
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.10071
Subject(s) - lactobacillus fermentum , probiotic , biology , in vivo , lactobacillus , food science , microbiology and biotechnology , feces , toxicity , lactic acid , bifidobacterium , cholesterol , bacteria , medicine , biochemistry , lactobacillus plantarum , genetics , fermentation
BACKGROUND Despite the growing importance of probiotics apparent health benefits, an impediment to the use of new probiotic cultures is their safety. Hence there is a need to strictly examine the biosafety as well as health benefits of probiotics in in vivo model systems. RESULTS In this study, two lactic acid bacterial (LAB) cultures Lactobacillus fermentum NCMR 2826 and FIX proven for their in vitro probiotic properties were investigated for their in vivo safety in Wistar rats. An acute toxicity study (14 days) with a high dose of biomass (10 16 colony‐forming units (CFU) mL −1 ) followed by a subchronic test for 13 weeks with oral feeding of the probiotic cultures in three different doses (10 7 , 10 8 and 10 10 CFU mL −1 ) on a daily basis revealed the safety of the L. fermentum cultures. The probiotic feeding had no toxic effects on survival, body weight and food consumption with any of the dosages used throughout the treatment period. No statistically significant changes in relative organ weights and serum biochemical and hematological indices were found between the control and the probiotic fed animals. In addition to the safety attributes, the L. fermentum culture fed rats showed reduced serum cholesterol levels, macrovesicular steatosis and hepatocyte ballooning compared with control animals. Further, quantification of intestinal microbiota using real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis from animal feces indicated a significant increase and stability of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium counts but a decrease of Escherichia coli numbers. CONCLUSION This study of safety and beneficial features highlights the use of the two native L. fermentum isolates as potential probiotic food supplements. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry