We examined a range of oenological lactic acid bacteria species and reference strains for their potential to degrade tannins. Bacterial tannase activity was checked by a spectrophotometric and a visual reading method. None of the strains belonging to the oenological species of the genus Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Oenococcus or Pediococcus were tannase producers, with the exception of Lactobaci...

Eighteen strains of Lactobacillus plantarum from different origins were screened for carotenoid production, as many of them exhibited a deep yellow pigmentation when cultured as isolated colonies on MRS-agar plates. We found that most of them produced significative amounts of the yellow C(30) carotenoid 4,4'-diaponeurosporene in the range 1.8 to 54 mg/kg of dry cell weight. Although some of the...

OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy of probiotic Lactobacillus on serum lipids using a meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials. METHODS Fifteen studies containing 15 trials, with 976 subjects were included. The pooled WMD was calculated by random effects model. RESULTS Probiotic Lactobacillus consumption significantly reduced TC by 0.26mmol/l (95% CI, -0.40 to -0.12) and LDL-C by 0.23mm...

Lactobacillus plantarum strains isolated and identified from naturally-fermented Chinese sauerkraut were examined in vitro for potential probiotic properties and in vivo for cholesterol-lowering effect in mice. Among 7 isolated L. plantarum strains, strains S2-5 and S4-1 were found to possess desirable probiotic properties including ability to survive at pH 2.0 for 60 min, tolerate pancreatin a...

Complexing of green tea catechins with food constituents and their hydrolysis by tannase-producing Lactobacillus plantarum strains, were investigated. Our observations indicated that 1) epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg) and other catechin galloyl esters bound with food ingredients (i.e., proteins) to form a complex that is likely to be unabsorbable through the intestinal wall, whereas most catech...

Epithelial cells of the mammalian intestine are covered with a mucus layer that prevents direct contact with intestinal microbes but also constitutes a substrate for mucus-degrading bacteria. To study the effect of mucus degradation on the host response, germ-free mice were colonized with Akkermansia muciniphila. This anaerobic bacterium belonging to the Verrucomicrobia is specialized in the de...

Lactobacillus plantarum is a lactic acid bacterium that produces d- and l-lactate using stereospecific NAD-dependent lactate dehydrogenases (LdhD and LdhL, respectively). However, reduction of glycolytic pyruvate by LdhD is not the only pathway for d-lactate production since a mutant defective in this activity still produces both lactate isomers (T. Ferain, J. N. Hobbs, Jr., J. Richardson, N. B...

Hypercholesterolemia drives the development of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of mortality in western society. Supplementation with probiotics that interfere with cholesterol metabolism may provide a contribution to disease prevention. Lactobacillus plantarum CUL66 (NCIMB 30280) has been assessed in vitro for its ability to impact cholesterol absorption. L. plantarum CUL66 tested pos...

The potential of lactic acid bacteria as live vehicles for the production and delivery of therapeutic molecules is being actively investigated today. For future applications it is essential to be able to establish dose-response curves for the targeted biological effect and thus to control the production of a heterologous biopeptide by a live lactobacillus. We therefore implemented in Lactobacil...

Mucosal immunity is important for the protection against a wide variety of pathogens. Traditional vaccines administered via parenteral routes induce strong systemic immunity, but they often fail to generate mucosal IgA. In contrast, bacteria-based vaccines comprise an appealing strategy for antigen delivery to mucosal sites. Vaginal infection with Chlamydia trachomatis can develop into upper ge...