probiotics are live microbial feed supplement and can provide health benefit to the host if administered in sufficient amounts. the most predominant species that have been used as probiotic include lactobacilli and bifidobacteria. proper administration of probiotics could be efficient in the treatment of various disorders. however; their mechanism of action is poorly understood. the effects of ...

For the first time in Iran 40 strains of Bifidobacterium were isolated from feces of Iranian subjects. By using phenotypic tests, 18 isolates were identified as Bifidobacterium longum, 10 as Bifidobacterium bifidum and one as Bifidobacterium catenolatum. In order to validate these results and also to identify other isolates that had not been identified by phenotypic tests, two methods of PCR wi...

Faecal and serum samples were collected over a period of 6 months from 55 institutionalized elderly subjects, who were enrolled in a double-blind placebo-controlled study. Participants were randomized in one of the three treatment groups: intervention (two probiotic Bifidobacterium longum strains: 2C and 46), placebo and commercial control (Bifidobacterium lactis Bb-12). The faecal Bifidobacter...

Prebiotics are food ingredients that improve health by modulating the colonic microbiota. The bifidogenic effect of the prebiotic inulin is well established; however, it remains unclear which species of Bifidobacterium are stimulated in vivo and whether bacterial groups other than lactic acid bacteria are affected by inulin consumption. Changes in the faecal microbiota composition were examined...

Frozen dairy products have characteristics of both yogurt and ice cream and could be the persuasive carriers of probiotics. Functions of the frozen yogurt containing viable bifidobacterial cells are recognized and favored by the people of all ages. We developed a kind of yogurt supplemented by Bifidobacterium species. Firstly, five strains of Bifidobacterium spp. (Bifidobacterium bifidum ATCC 1...

The partial 60 kDa heat-shock protein (HSP60) genes of 36 Bifidobacterium strains representing 30 different Bifidobacterium species and subspecies and of the type strain of Gardnerella vaginalis were cloned and sequenced using a pair of universal degenerate HSP60 PCR primers. The HSP60 DNA sequence similarities were determined for the taxa at various ranks as follows: 99.4-100% within the same ...

A healthy intestinal microbiota is considered to be important for priming of the infants' mucosal and systemic immunity. Breast-fed infants typically have an intestinal microbiota dominated by different Bifidobacterium species. It has been described that allergic infants have different levels of specific Bifidobacterium species than healthy infants. For the accurate quantification of Bifidobact...

We report the genome sequences of four isolates of a human gut symbiont, Bifidobacterium longum. Strains 44B and 35B were isolated from two 1-year-old infants, while 1-6B and 2-2B were isolated from the same children 5 years later. The sequences permit investigations of factors enabling long-term colonization of bifidobacteria.

AIM To develop real-time quantitative PCR methods, based on the use of probes labelled with a stable fluorescent lanthanide chelate, for the quantification of different human faecal bifidobacterial populations. METHODS AND RESULTS The designed quantitative PCR assays were found to be specific for the corresponding Bifidobacterium species or groups (Bifidobacterium longum group, Bifidobacteriu...

Zonulin protein is a newly discovered modulator which modulates the permeability of the intestinal epithelial barrier by disassembling intercellular tight junctions (TJ). Disruption of TJ is associated with neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). It has been shown bifidobacterium could protect the intestinal barrier function and prophylactical administration of bifidobacterium has beneficial ...