Antigenotoxic effect of prebiotics

Living in environmentally neglected areas, stress, imbalance in the diet, and a decrease in the immune status adversely affect the human body. One of the main disorders is an imbalance in the intestinal biocenosis. Disorders of the intestinal microflora lead to diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, cardiovascular system, obesity, diabetes, malignant neoplasms, allergic autoimmune diseases, and mental disorders. Imbalance of the intestinal microflora causes inflammatory processes and, therefore, DNA damage. Prebiotics are a means to restore intestinal microbiota. This article provides information on the study of an antimutagenic effect of prebiotics. We studied a monocomponent preparation, containing lactulose and a multicomponent prebiotic that consisted of aqueous substrates of metabolic products Escherichia coli DSM 4087, Streptococcus faecalis DSM 4086, Lactobacillus acidophilus DSM 4149, and Lactobacillus helveticus DSM 4183. The purpose of the investigation was to study antigenotoxic properties of the preparations. The preparations’ ability to suppress genotoxicity caused by oxidative stress was evaluated by the biosensor bacteria’s ability to reduce the DNA damage caused by dioxidine—an endogenous generator of reactive oxygen species (ROS). To detect DNA damage in a cell, E. coli MG1655 biosensors with pRecA and pColD promoters were used. The studied prebiotics were found to exhibit a weak antigenotoxic effect, regardless of the composition or a range of concentrations applied. A monocomponent preparation (lactulose) had much better protective effect than a metabolic-type prebiotic that contained metabolic products of Escherichia coli, enterococci and lactobacilli. The study results may be taken into account in selection of prebiotic components as functional ingredients with antigenotoxic and antioxidant properties in the food industry.