Investigating the Therapeutic Potential of a Probiotic in a Rat Model for Infection Following Fracture Fixation

Background: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is the most common pathogen responsible for osteomyelitis. Objectives: Our objective was to investigate the potential of a probiotic as a treatment for S. aureus-induced infection following fracture fixation in a rat model. Methods: Fifty male Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to five groups (Control, S. aureus, S. aureus +ceftriaxone, S. aureus + once weekly probiotic, and S. aureus + twice weekly probiotic). Lactobacillus casei subsp. casei (ATCC: 39392) was selected from eight strains of probiotic bacteria with anti-staphylococcal activity. Infection was induced by inoculation with106 colony-forming units (CFU) of S. aureus in a closed femur fracture model stabilized with an intramedullary pin. Three weeks after the surgery, the development of infection and response to the therapy was documented using radiographs, microbiological and histopathological analysis. Results: No bacteria were recovered from rats in the Control group. The analysis of variance revealed a significant difference in the CFU/femur (P < 0.001) and CFU/pin (P = 0.001) across all five treatment groups. When the results were compared, the CFU/femur was significantly lower in the S. aureus + Probiotic twice weekly in comparison with S. aureus (P = 0.008) and the S. aureus + ceftriaxone (P = 0.012) groups. Repeated measure ANOVA to test the radiographic scores during the follow-up time between the intervention groups revealed no significant differences (P = 0.179). Conclusions: Parenteral administration of viable L. casei inhibits S. aureus-induced infection as shown by the bacteriologic analysis, but makes no difference to the radiological union rates. This could be the first step towards developing an effective, biologic adjunctive therapy for the management of osteomyelitis following fracture fixation

Prebiotic and Probiotic Fortified Milk in Prevention of Morbidities among Children: Community-Based, Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Trial

HN019 to milk, in preventing diarrhea, respiratory infections and severe illnesses, in children aged 1–4 years as part of a four group study design, running two studies simultaneously. HN019 (PP; n = 312). Children were followed up for 1 year providing data for 1–4 years. Biweekly household surveillance was conducted to gather information on compliance and morbidity. Both study groups were comparable at baseline; compliance to intervention was similar. Overall, there was no effect of prebiotic and probiotic on diarrhea (6% reduction, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: −1 to 12%; p = 0.08). Incidence of dysentery episodes was reduced by 21% (95% CI: 0 to 38%; p = 0.05). Incidence of pneumonia was reduced by 24% (95% CI: 0 to 42%; p = 0.05) and severe acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) by 35% (95% CI: 0 to 58%; p = 0.05). Compared to children in Co group, children in PP group had 16% (95% CI: 5 to 26%, p = 0.004) and 5% (95% CI: 0 to 10%; p = 0.05) reduction in days with severe illness and high fever respectively.Milk can be a good medium for delivery of prebiotic and probiotic and resulted in significant reduction of dysentery, respiratory morbidity and febrile illness. Overall, impact of diarrhea was not significant. These findings need confirmation in other settings

Recombinant Probiotic Expressing Listeria Adhesion Protein Attenuates Listeria monocytogenes Virulence In Vitro

BACKGROUND: Listeria monocytogenes, an intracellular foodborne pathogen, infects immunocompromised hosts. The primary route of transmission is through contaminated food. In the gastrointestinal tract, it traverses the epithelial barrier through intracellular or paracellular routes. Strategies to prevent L. monocytogenes entry can potentially minimize infection in high-risk populations. Listeria adhesion protein (LAP) aids L. monocytogenes in crossing epithelial barriers via the paracellular route. The use of recombinant probiotic bacteria expressing LAP would aid targeted clearance of Listeria from the gut and protect high-risk populations from infection. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The objective was to investigate the ability of probiotic bacteria or LAP-expressing recombinant probiotic Lactobacillus paracasei (Lbp(LAP)) to prevent L. monocytogenes adhesion, invasion, and transwell-based transepithelial translocation in a Caco-2 cell culture model. Several wild type probiotic bacteria showed strong adhesion to Caco-2 cells but none effectively prevented L. monocytogenes infection. Pre-exposure to Lbp(LAP) for 1, 4, 15, or 24 h significantly (P<0.05) reduced adhesion, invasion, and transepithelial translocation of L. monocytogenes in Caco-2 cells, whereas pre-exposure to parental Lb. paracasei had no significant effect. Similarly, Lbp(LAP) pre-exposure reduced L. monocytogenes translocation by as much as 46% after 24 h. Lbp(LAP) also prevented L. monocytogenes-mediated cell damage and compromise of tight junction integrity. Furthermore, Lbp(LAP) cells reduced L. monocytogenes-mediated cell cytotoxicity by 99.8% after 1 h and 79% after 24 h. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Wild type probiotic bacteria were unable to prevent L. monocytogenes infection in vitro. In contrast, Lbp(LAP) blocked adhesion, invasion, and translocation of L. monocytogenes by interacting with host cell receptor Hsp60, thereby protecting cells from infection. These data show promise for the use of recombinant probiotics in preventing L. monocytogenes infection in high-risk populations

International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Probiotics.

Position statement: The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) provides an objective and critical review of the mechanisms and use of probiotic supplementation to optimize the health, performance, and recovery of athletes. Based on the current available literature, the conclusions of the ISSN are as follows: 1)Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host (FAO/WHO).2)Probiotic administration has been linked to a multitude of health benefits, with gut and immune health being the most researched applications.3)Despite the existence of shared, core mechanisms for probiotic function, health benefits of probiotics are strain- and dose-dependent.4)Athletes have varying gut microbiota compositions that appear to reflect the activity level of the host in comparison to sedentary people, with the differences linked primarily to the volume of exercise and amount of protein consumption. Whether differences in gut microbiota composition affect probiotic efficacy is unknown.5)The main function of the gut is to digest food and absorb nutrients. In athletic populations, certain probiotics strains can increase absorption of key nutrients such as amino acids from protein, and affect the pharmacology and physiological properties of multiple food components.6)Immune depression in athletes worsens with excessive training load, psychological stress, disturbed sleep, and environmental extremes, all of which can contribute to an increased risk of respiratory tract infections. In certain situations, including exposure to crowds, foreign travel and poor hygiene at home, and training or competition venues, athletes' exposure to pathogens may be elevated leading to increased rates of infections. Approximately 70% of the immune system is located in the gut and probiotic supplementation has been shown to promote a healthy immune response. In an athletic population, specific probiotic strains can reduce the number of episodes, severity and duration of upper respiratory tract infections.7)Intense, prolonged exercise, especially in the heat, has been shown to increase gut permeability which potentially can result in systemic toxemia. Specific probiotic strains can improve the integrity of the gut-barrier function in athletes.8)Administration of selected anti-inflammatory probiotic strains have been linked to improved recovery from muscle-damaging exercise.9)The minimal effective dose and method of administration (potency per serving, single vs. split dose, delivery form) of a specific probiotic strain depends on validation studies for this particular strain. Products that contain probiotics must include the genus, species, and strain of each live microorganism on its label as well as the total estimated quantity of each probiotic strain at the end of the product's shelf life, as measured by colony forming units (CFU) or live cells.10)Preclinical and early human research has shown potential probiotic benefits relevant to an athletic population that include improved body composition and lean body mass, normalizing age-related declines in testosterone levels, reductions in cortisol levels indicating improved responses to a physical or mental stressor, reduction of exercise-induced lactate, and increased neurotransmitter synthesis, cognition and mood. However, these potential benefits require validation in more rigorous human studies and in an athletic population

Effects of Trichoderma fermented wheat bran on growth performance, intestinal morphology and histological findings in broiler chickens

This experiment investigated the effects of wheat bran fermented with Trichoderma pseudokoningii (FWB) on growth performance, intestinal morphology and the incidence of non-specific pathological lesions in broilers. In vitro experimental results showed that cellulase and xylananse activity of fermented wheat bran reached its peak at day 4 and solid-state fermentation (SSF) enhanced the reducing sugar content. In addition, the possibility of Trichoderma adhering to the broiler’s crop epitheliums was also discovered. A total of 180 day-old Ross 308 male broilers were randomly distributed into one of the three dietary groups until 35 d of age: basal diet (control), 10% of basal diet replaced with wheat bran (10% WB) or 10% of diet replaced with fermented wheat bran (10% FWB). Results showed that 10% FWB group had lower feed consumption than the others, but improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) for starter phase (1 to 21 d) when compared to the control group. Furthermore, 10% FWB group had significantly increased villus height and villus height/crypt depth ratio in the ileum compared to the control group. Coliform bacteria count in the ileum was lower in the 10% WB group than the control, however, there were no differences between the 10% WB and 10% FWB treatment groups in the C. perfringens count. There were no morphological changes or incidences of non-specific pathological lesions in the 10% FWB group. These results suggested that replacing 10% of a basal diet with fermented wheat bran could not only improve growth performance but also provide optimal intestinal morphology in broilers