Adhesion of the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus plantarum 299v onto the gut mucosa in critically ill patients: a randomised open trial

INTRODUCTION To achieve any possible positive effect on the intestinal mucosa cells it is important that probiotics adhere tightly onto the intestinal mucosa. It has been shown in healthy volunteers that Lactobacillus plantarum 299v (Lp 299v) (DSM 9843), a probiotic bacterium, given orally in a fermented oatmeal formula adheres onto the intestinal mucosa, but whether this also occurs in critically ill patients is unknown. METHODS After randomisation, nine enterally fed, critically ill patients treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics received an oatmeal formula fermented with Lp 299v throughout their stay in the intensive care unit; eight patients served as controls. Biopsies of the rectal mucosa were made at admission and then twice a week, and the biopsies were analysed blindly. RESULTS Four patients in the control group were colonised with Lp 299v at admission but thereafter all their biopsies were negative (Lp 299v is an ingredient in a common functional food, ProViva, in Sweden). Of the treated patients none was colonised at admission but three patients had Lp 299v adhered on the mucosa from the second or third biopsy and in the following samples. CONCLUSION This study shows that Lp 299v could survive the passage from the stomach to the rectum and was able adhere onto the rectal mucosa also in critically ill, antibiotic-treated patients.