Microbiological Effects of Consuming a Synbiotic Containing Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium lactis, and Oligofructose in Elderly Persons, Determined by Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction and Counting of Viable Bacteria
TL;DR: Synbiotic consumption increased the size and diversity of protective fecal bifidobacterial populations, which are often very much reduced in older people.
Abstract: Background Because of changes in gut physiology, immune system reactivity, and diet, elderly people are more susceptible to gastrointestinal infections than are younger adults. The gut microflora, which provides a natural defense against invading microorganisms, changes in elderly people with the development of potentially damaging bacterial populations, which may lead to alterations in bacterial metabolism and higher levels of infection. Methods A randomized, double-blind, controlled feeding trial was done with 18 healthy elderly volunteers (age, >62 years) using a synbiotic comprising Bifidobacterium bifidum BB-02 and Bifidobacterium lactis BL-01 (probiotics) together with an inulin-based prebiotic (Synergy 1; Orafti). Real-time PCR was employed to quantitate total bifidobacteria, B. bifidum, and B. lactis in fecal DNA before, during, and after synbiotic consumption. Counting all viable anaerobes, bifidobacteria, and lactobacilli and identification of bacterial isolates to species level was also done. Results Throughout feeding, both bifidobacteria species were detected in fecal samples obtained from all subjects receiving the synbiotic, with significant increases in the number of copies of the 16S rRNA genes of B. bifidum, B. lactis, and total bifidobacteria, compared with the control week and the placebo group. At least 1 of these species remained detectable in fecal samples 3 weeks after feeding in individuals that had no fecal B. bifidum and/or B. lactis in the control week, indicating that the probiotics persisted in the volunteers. Counting of viable organisms showed significantly higher total numbers of fecal bifidobacteria, total numbers of lactobacilli, and numbers of B. bifidum during synbiotic feeding. Conclusion Synbiotic consumption increased the size and diversity of protective fecal bifidobacterial populations, which are often very much reduced in older people.
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TL;DR: Ciprofloxacin treatment influenced the abundance of about a third of the bacterial taxa in the gut, decreasing the taxonomic richness, diversity, and evenness of the community, and support the hypothesis of functional redundancy in the human gut microbiota.
Abstract: The human intestinal microbiota is essential to the health of the host and plays a role in nutrition, development, metabolism, pathogen resistance, and regulation of immune responses. Antibiotics may disrupt these coevolved interactions, leading to acute or chronic disease in some individuals. Our understanding of antibiotic-associated disturbance of the microbiota has been limited by the poor sensitivity, inadequate resolution, and significant cost of current research methods. The use of pyrosequencing technology to generate large numbers of 16S rDNA sequence tags circumvents these limitations and has been shown to reveal previously unexplored aspects of the “rare biosphere.” We investigated the distal gut bacterial communities of three healthy humans before and after treatment with ciprofloxacin, obtaining more than 7,000 full-length rRNA sequences and over 900,000 pyrosequencing reads from two hypervariable regions of the rRNA gene. A companion paper in PLoS Genetics (see Huse et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1000255) shows that the taxonomic information obtained with these methods is concordant. Pyrosequencing of the V6 and V3 variable regions identified 3,300–5,700 taxa that collectively accounted for over 99% of the variable region sequence tags that could be obtained from these samples. Ciprofloxacin treatment influenced the abundance of about a third of the bacterial taxa in the gut, decreasing the taxonomic richness, diversity, and evenness of the community. However, the magnitude of this effect varied among individuals, and some taxa showed interindividual variation in the response to ciprofloxacin. While differences of community composition between individuals were the largest source of variability between samples, we found that two unrelated individuals shared a surprising degree of community similarity. In all three individuals, the taxonomic composition of the community closely resembled its pretreatment state by 4 weeks after the end of treatment, but several taxa failed to recover within 6 months. These pervasive effects of ciprofloxacin on community composition contrast with the reports by participants of normal intestinal function and with prior assumptions of only modest effects of ciprofloxacin on the intestinal microbiota. These observations support the hypothesis of functional redundancy in the human gut microbiota. The rapid return to the pretreatment community composition is indicative of factors promoting community resilience, the nature of which deserves future investigation.
2,181 citations
TL;DR: The impact of dietary carbohydrates, including prebiotics, on human health requires understanding of the complex relationship between diet composition, the gut microbiota and metabolic outputs.
Abstract: Bacteria that colonize the mammalian intestine collectively possess a far larger repertoire of degradative enzymes and metabolic capabilities than their hosts. Microbial fermentation of complex non...
1,482 citations
TL;DR: According to the German definition, probiotic microorganisms are defined viable microorganisms, sufficient amounts of which reach the intestine in an active state and thus exert positive health effects as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: According to the German definition, probiotics are defined viable microorganisms, sufficient amounts of which reach the intestine in an active state and thus exert positive health effects. Numerous probiotic microorganisms (e.g. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, L. reuteri, bifidobacteria and certain strains of L. casei or the L. acidophilus-group) are used in probiotic food, particularly fermented milk products, or have been investigated—as well as Escherichia coli strain Nissle 1917, certain enterococci (Enterococcus faecium SF68) and the probiotic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii—with regard to their medicinal use. Among the numerous purported health benefits attributed to probiotic bacteria, the (transient) modulation of the intestinal microflora of the host and the capacity to interact with the immune system directly or mediated by the autochthonous microflora, are basic mechanisms. They are supported by an increasing number of in vitro and in vivo experiments using conventional and molecular biologic methods. In addition to these, a limited number of randomized, well-controlled human intervention trials have been reported.
797 citations
TL;DR: Inulin-derived oligosaccharides and GOS are mildly laxative, but can result in flatulence and osmotic diarrhoea if taken in large amounts.
Abstract: Most studies involving prebiotic oligosaccharides have been carried out using inulin and its fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS) derivatives, together with various forms of galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS). Although many intestinal bacteria are able to grow on these carbohydrates, most investigations have demonstrated that the growth of bifidobacteria, and to a lesser degree lactobacilli, is particularly favoured. Because of their safety, stability, organoleptic properties, resistance to digestion in the upper bowel and fermentability in the colon, as well as their abilities to promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut, these prebiotics are being increasingly incorporated into the Western diet. Inulin-derived oligosaccharides and GOS are mildly laxative, but can result in flatulence and osmotic diarrhoea if taken in large amounts. However, their effects on large bowel habit are relatively minor. Although the literature dealing with the health significance of prebiotics is not as extensive as that concerning probiotics, considerable evidence has accrued showing that consumption of GOS and FOS can have significant health benefits, particularly in relation to their putative anti-cancer properties, influence on mineral absorption, lipid metabolism, and anti-inflammatory and other immune effects such as atopic disease. In many instances, prebiotics seem to be more effective when used as part of a synbiotic combination.
735 citations
Cites background from "Microbiological Effects of Consumin..."
...Synbiotic use (Bif. lactis, Bif. bifidum, Synergy 1, 2 · 6 g day–1 for 4 weeks) in nine healthy elderly volunteers (mean age 73) years resulted in strong bifidogenic effects (Bartosch et al. 2005)....
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...For example, a number of investigations have shown that colonic bifidobacterial populations decline in older people, while there are increased numbers of potentially harmful clostridia and enterobacteria (Gavini et al. 2001; Hopkins et al. 2001; Bartosch et al. 2005)....
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TL;DR: It is concluded that two distinct mechanisms of metabolic cross- feeding between B. adolescentis and butyrate-forming bacteria may operate in gut ecosystems, one due to consumption of fermentation end products (lactate and acetate) and the other due to cross-feeding of partial breakdown products from complex substrates.
Abstract: Dietary carbohydrates have the potential to influence diverse functional groups of bacteria within the human large intestine. Of 12 Bifidobacterium strains of human gut origin from seven species tested, four grew in pure culture on starch and nine on fructo-oligosaccharides. The potential for metabolic cross-feeding between Bifidobacterium adolescentis and lactate-utilizing, butyrate-producing Firmicute bacteria related to Eubacterium hallii and Anaerostipes caccae was investigated in vitro. E. hallii L2-7 and A. caccae L1-92 failed to grow on starch in pure culture, but in coculture with B. adolescentis L2-32 butyrate was formed, indicating cross-feeding of metabolites to the lactate utilizers. Studies with [13C]lactate confirmed carbon flow from lactate, via acetyl coenzyme A, to butyrate both in pure cultures of E. hallii and in cocultures with B. adolescentis. Similar results were obtained in cocultures involving B. adolescentis DSM 20083 with fructo-oligosaccharides as the substrate. Butyrate formation was also stimulated, however, in cocultures of B. adolescentis L2-32 grown on starch or fructo-oligosaccharides with Roseburia sp. strain A2-183, which produces butyrate but does not utilize lactate. This is probably a consequence of the release by B. adolescentis of oligosaccharides that are available to Roseburia sp. strain A2-183. We conclude that two distinct mechanisms of metabolic cross-feeding between B. adolescentis and butyrate-forming bacteria may operate in gut ecosystems, one due to consumption of fermentation end products (lactate and acetate) and the other due to cross-feeding of partial breakdown products from complex substrates.
701 citations
Cites background from "Microbiological Effects of Consumin..."
...The effects of resistant starch and FOS on microbial metabolism and bacterial populations have been studied in humans and in animal models (4, 16, 17, 29), and several studies have reported the...
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References
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TL;DR: Gastroenterologists should seek out and actively treat gastrointestinal disorders in the elderly and not just ascribe them to old age.
Abstract: Few gastrointestinal functions decline to an important extent as a result of old age alone and there is little clinical evidence that significant malnutrition occurs in any normal elderly person as a result of the aging process itself. Nevertheless, decreased gastrointestinal reserve makes older people highly sensitive to minor insults and decompensation can rapidly occur. Drugs appreciably affect taste sensation, which is already blunted and psychological as well as physical disability can have a major impact on appetite. Malabsorption can be caused by gastric hypochlorhydria with small bowel bacterial overgrowth and while gastrointestinal dysmotility can be caused by subclinical hypothyroidism, it can improve in response to physical exercise. Evidence is now mounting that thorough investigation of gastrointestinal disturbances in elderly patients coupled with intensive nutritional support can make a very real impact on their outcome. Gastroenterologists should therefore seek out and actively treat gastrointestinal disorders in the elderly and not just ascribe them to old age.
119 citations
"Microbiological Effects of Consumin..." refers background in this paper
...00 However, gut function changes with age, and this is often accompanied by an increased incidence of gastrointestinal infection [5]....
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TL;DR: Analysis of the 16S-23S internally transcribed spacer region of B. lactis and B. animalis strains suggested two distinct clusters, and it is proposed that B. dairy should be separated from B. animals at the subspecies level.
Abstract: Identification of Bifidobacterium lactis and Bifidobacterium animalis is problematic because of phenotypic and genetic homogeneities and has raised the question of whether they belong to one unique taxon. Analysis of the 16S-23S internally transcribed spacer region of B. lactis DSM10140T, B. animalis ATCC 25527T, and six potential B. lactis strains suggested two distinct clusters. Two specific 16S-23S spacer rRNA gene-targeted primers have been developed for specific detection of B. animalis. All of the molecular techniques used (B. lactis or B. animalis PCR primers, enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus PCR) demonstrated that B. lactis and B. animalis form two main groups and suggest a revision of the strains assigned to B. animalis. We propose that B. lactis should be separated from B. animalis at the subspecies level.
118 citations
"Microbiological Effects of Consumin..." refers background in this paper
...lactis DSM 10140 have been previously found in samples of human feces [21, 31], and it is possible that this species has been overlooked in cultivation studies of fecal bifidobacteria....
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TL;DR: The results indicate that anaerobic bacteria play a pivotal role in limiting the translocation of normal intestinal bacteria, but that other bacterial groups also have a role in preventing the intestinal colonization and translocated of potential pathogens.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to clarify the role of the intestinal anaerobe bacteria in colonization resistance. Germfree mice were associated with Escherichia coli C25 and either (a) no other species; (b) enterococcus; (c) Escherichia coli M14 and Proteus mirabilis, or (d) Bacteroides fragilis and Bacteroides vulgatus. All species colonized the cecum in high numbers, but only enterococcus significantly limited the translocation of Escherichia coli C25 to mesenteric lymph nodes. However, the overall translocation rates were similar in all groups and ranged from 60% to 100%, due to translocation of other intestinal flora in addition to Escherichia coli C25. Conventionally reared mice were given either streptomycin, bacitracin/streptomycin or metronidazole which selectively eliminated facultative gram-negative bacteria, nearly all bacterial species or strictly anaerobic bacteria respectively. Only metronidazole significantly increased the rates of translocation of normal intestinal bacteria into mesenteric lymph nodes. Cohort groups of mice were then orally inoculated with drug resistant Escherichia coli C25, which actively colonized the cecum of all drug treated mice and translocated to the mesenteric lymph nodes of approximately half the streptomycin and metronidazole treated mice and nearly all the bacitracin/streptomycin treated mice. These results indicate that anaerobic bacteria play a pivotal role in limiting the translocation of normal intestinal bacteria, but that other bacterial groups also have a role in preventing the intestinal colonization and translocation of potential pathogens.
110 citations
"Microbiological Effects of Consumin..." refers background in this paper
...The microbiota is generally viewed as being stable during adult life [1, 2], during which it plays an important role in host physiology and metabolism [3], and it provides a natural defense against invading pathogens [4]....
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TL;DR: To determine if there is any change with age in the distribution of Bifidobacterium and Enterobacteriaceae species in human intestinal microflora, strains were isolated from a total of 54 samples of human faeces and there is a noticeable trend whereby B. adolescentis occurs more frequently in children than in the elderly.
Abstract: To determine if there is any change with age in the distribution of Bifidobacterium and Enterobacteriaceae species in human intestinal microflora, strains were isolated from a total of 54 samples of human faeces (15 children, 3–15 years old; 17 adults, 30–46 years old; 22 elderly, 69–89 years old). The bifidobacteria were identified at species level using a numerical phenotypic identification system developed on the Internet (http://kounou.lille.inra.fr) and DNA–DNA hyridization. The enterobacteria were identified using the API 20E system (Biomerieux, France). Escherichia coli was present in 93% of samples. Enterobacter and Klebsiella species were more frequently found in children while Proteus and Providencia species were typically found in the elderly. The species Bifiobacterium longum was the most frequently species isolated in children and adults, whereas Bifidobacterium adolescentis was the most encountered species in the elderly. The distribution of B. adolescentis was significantly split between the children and the elderly age groups. There is a noticeable trend whereby Bi?fidobacterium pseudocatenulatum occurs more frequently in children than in the elderly. The species Bifidobacterium infantis , Bi?fidobacterium gallicum and Bi?fidobacterium angulatum have never been isolated, while Bi?fidobacterium breve has only been isolated on one occasion. Keywords : human faeces, elderly, Bi?fidobacterium longum , Bi?fidobacterium adolescentis , Bi?fidobacterium pseudocatenulatum , Bi?fidobacterium dentium , Escherichia coli , Enterobacter , Klebsiella , Proteus , Providencia .
106 citations
01 Jan 1994
TL;DR: The conventional view of the human large bowel as an appendage of the digestive tract, whose principal purpose was the conservation of salt and water and the disposal of waste materials, is increasingly being replaced with that of a highly specialised digestive organ, which through the activities of its constituent microbiota rivals the liver in its metabolic capacity and in the diversity of its biochemical transformations.
Abstract: The conventional view of the human large bowel as an appendage of the digestive tract, whose principal purpose was the conservation of salt and water and the disposal of waste materials, is increasingly being replaced with that of a highly specialised digestive organ, which through the activities of its constituent microbiota rivals the liver in its metabolic capacity and in the diversity of its biochemical transformations.
99 citations