Six strains of lactic acid producing bacteria (LAB) were incubated (1 x 10(8)cfu/ml) with genotoxic faecal water from a human subject. HT29 human adenocarcinoma cells were then challenged with the resultant samples and DNA damage measured using the single cell gel electrophoresis (comet) assay. The LAB strains investigated were Bifidobacterium sp. 420, Bifidobacterium Bb12, Lactobacillus planta...

The rationale for supplementing an infant formula with prebiotics is to obtain a bifidogenic effect and the implied advantages of a 'breast-fed-like' flora. So far, the bifidogenic effect of oligofructose and inulin has been demonstrated in animals and in adults, of oligofructose in infants and toddlers and of a long-chain inulin (10 %) and galactooligosaccharide (90 %) mixture in term and pret...

This is a follow up study of a multicenter randomised placebo-controlled trial in seven centres in five West European countries. The RCT assessed the effect of infant formula supplemented with a mixture of prebiotics (with neutral short-chain and long-chain oligosaccharides and pectin-derived acidic oligosaccharides) during infancy in term-born children (n=1130). In the follow-up study 672 chil...

INTRODUCTION The intestinal microbiota has several beneficial functions related to host health. Studies suggest that it may be related to the presence of metabolic diseases, including obesity. OBJECTIVE A bibliographic survey was carried out upon the relationship between the intestinal microbiota and obesity and the possible impacts of the use of prebiotics and probiotics, aiming to understan...

For the past 20 years, the principal focus of public health strategies for reducing the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) has been aimed at lowering serum cholesterol levels. However, recent findings have highlighted not only cholesterol but also triacylglycerol as a significant lipid risk factor for CHD. Dietary strategies which are able to reduce these circulating lipid levels and which ar...

Microbial fermentation has been used historically for the preservation of foods, the health benefits of which have since come to light. Early dairy fermentations depended on the spontaneous activity of the indigenous microbiota of the milk. Modern fermentations rely on defined starter cultures with desirable characteristics to ensure consistency and commercial viability. The selection of define...

The disposal of waste from the food industry represents a major environmental concern. Nonetheless, agro-industrial by-products can be enzymatically converted into low-cost high-value-added products, such as prebiotics, while contributing to circular economy. As first approach for health claims validation these novel several gastrointestinal models have been used. main objective this review is ...

Human subjects and their enteric microbiota have evolved together to reach a state of mutual tolerance. Mounting evidence from both animal models and human studies suggests that inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) represents a malfunction of this relationship. The enteric microecology therefore represents an attractive therapeutic target with few side effects. Probiotics and prebiotics have been i...

Prebiotics are non-digestible food ingredients that target certain components within the microbiota of the human large intestine. Efficient prebiotics need to have a specific fermentation therein and thereby have the ability to alter the faecal microflora composition towards a more 'beneficial' community structure. This should occur by the stimulation of benign or potentially health promoting g...

Large-scale biodiversity loss and complex changes in social behaviors are altering human microbial ecology. This is increasingly implicated in the global rise in inflammatory diseases, most notably the "allergy epidemic" in very early life. Colonization of human ecological niches, particularly the gastrointestinal tract, is critical for normal local and systemic immune development and regulatio...