Fermentation of fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and other oligosaccharides has been suggested to be an important property for the selection of bacterial strains used as probiotics. However, little information is available on FOS transport and metabolism by lactic acid bacteria and other probiotic bacteria. The objectives of this research were to identify and characterize the FOS transport system o...

In this research, the survival of probiotic microorganisms in yogurts stored at room temperature (cold chain interruption conditions) was studied. Milk inoculated with yogurt bacteria (mixed culture of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus) and a single probiotic culture (L. acidophilus LA-5 or Bifidobacterium lactis Bb-12 or L. rhamnosus HN001 or L. paracasei...

In a recent study, we examined the glycemic and autonomic nervous responses to probiotic strain Lactobacillus johnsonii La1, and presented evidence that intraduodenal (ID) injection of this bacteria affected autonomic nerves and lowered blood pressure (BP) in anesthetized rats. In the study presented here, we examined the feeding, autonomic and cardiovascular effects of the lactobacillus strain...

The objective of this study was to investigate the cultivable Lactobacillus population in adult and infant faecal material to identify strains shared across a number of individuals. A range of lactobacilli isolated on Lactobacillus-selective agar from faeces of 16 infants and 11 adults were genetically fingerprinted and further characterized by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The relatedness of all t...

Reducing the burden of pathogenic mutans streptococci is a goal of oral health. Lactobacillus paracasei DSMZ16671, even after heat-killing, specifically co-aggregates mutans streptococci in vitro and retains this activity in human saliva. In rats, it reduces mutans streptococcal colonization of teeth and caries scores. This pilot study sought to assess the potential of heat-killed L. paracasei ...

Robust genotyping methods for Lactobacillus casei are needed for strain tracking and collection management, as well as for population biology research. A collection of 52 strains initially labeled L. casei or Lactobacillus paracasei was first subjected to rplB gene sequencing together with reference strains of Lactobacillus zeae, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and other species. Phylogenetic analysis...

Background Allergies are becoming a serious health burden in developed countries. Increasing numbers of clinical trials and animal experiments show that probiotics are new promising tools in allergy prophylaxis. In the present work we compared anti-allergic properties of the recently described probiotic mixture of Lactobacillus casei LOCK0900, L. casei LOCK0908 and L. paracasei LOCK0919 and L. ...

An objective of this work was to assess the biological activity of beetroot juice (Chrobry variety, Beta vulgaris L. ssp. vulgaris), which was lactofermented by probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus brevis 0944 and Lactobacillus paracasei 0920. The oxidative status of blood serum, kidneys, and liver of rats consuming the fermented beetroot juice were determined. The experimental rats were divided in...