The paper describes the preparation of new probiotic formulations based on chitosan-coated alginate microcapsules containing three different probiotic strains, Lactobacillus plantarum PBS067, Lactobacillus rhamnosus PBS070, and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis PBS075 taken individually and as a mixture of them. The effects of microencapsulation on the viability of the strains in conditions simulating the gastrointestinal tract and under industrial processes conditions were studied. In addition, an evaluation of their probiotic properties was also investigated by in vitro tests on the human intestinal cell line HT-29 to explore the effect of microencapsulation on health beneficial effect of the considered strains. Non-encapsulated cells were completely destroyed when exposed to simulated gastric juice and other stress conditions, while encapsulated cells exhibited a significantly higher resistance to artificial intestinal juice and heat and osmotic treatment. Moreover, in this study, the effect of the various microencapsulated probiotic strain formulations was compared with analogous formulations also containing the β-glucan Pleuran. The microencapsulation effectively protected the selected bacteria, as single strain and as a mixture of the three strains in both the formulations with and without Pleuran, from simulating gastrointestinal tract and industrial process conditions in delivering the viable cells without any significant adverse effect on their functionalities. The comparative study of the immunomodulatory properties of each single strain and the mixture of the three strains revealed a synergistic effect of the probiotic mixture, but no appreciable difference between the two kinds of formulations could be detected, as the effect of Pleuran is covered by the higher potential of the probiotic strains.
Both probiotic formulations F_1 and F_2, chosen because of their anti-microbial activity against pathogens responsible for vaginal dysbiosis and infections, led to vaginal detection and enhancement of the amount of species of formulates when orally administered. This work provides the basis for further clinical investigations of the F_1 and F_2 capacity to prevent or treat uro-genital infections.
The author would like to correct the error in the online published article: In Materials and methods under sub heading Strains, probiotic formulations and culture conditions, in paragraph 3, sentence 2 should read as: The composition of the probiotic mix F_1 was as follows: 1 9 10 9 CFU L. acidophilus PBS066 (40 mg as lyophilized), 1 9 10 9 CFU L. reuteri PBS072 (30 mg as lyophilized), 320 mg inulin, 5 mg silica, 5 mg talc. The F_2 composition was as follows: 1 9 10 9 CFU L. plantarum PBS067 (12 mg as lyophilized), 1 9 10 9 CFU L. rhamnosus PBS070 (20 mg as lyophilized), 1 9 10 9 CFU B. animalis subsp. lactis PBS075. (60 mg as lyophilized), 298 mg inulin, 5 mg silica, 5 mg talc. Placebo (F_3) composition was as follows: 390 mg inulin, 5 mg silica, 5 mg talc.
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