Objective: To determine the effect of consumption of milk fermented by Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (L. casei Shirota) on the composition and metabolic activities of the intestinal micro¯ora, and immune parameters in humans. Subjects: Twenty healthy male subjects aged 40±65 years were selected. Design: A placebo-controlled trial was performed in which 10 subjects were randomly assigned to a control and 10 to a treatment group. During the ®rst and last two weeks of the 8-week study the subjects received a strictly controlled diet without fermented products. The same controlled diet was given during the intermediate 4-week test period but then the treatment group received three times daily 100 ml of fermented milk containing 10 9 CFU L. casei Shirotaaml, whereas the same amount of unfermented milk was given to the subjects in the control group. Results: In comparison to the control group, the consumption of L. casei Shirota-fermented milk resulted in an increase of the Lactobacillus count in the faeces in which the administered L. casei Shirota was predominant at the level of 10 7 CFUag wet faeces. This was associated with a signi®cant increase in Bi®dobacterium counts (P`0.05). Some shifts in the other bacterial species were found, such as a decreased number of Clostridium; however the differences were not statistically different between the treatment and the control groups.The b-glucuronidase and b-glucosidase activities per 10 10 bacteria decreased signi®cantly (P`0.05) at the second week of the 4-week test period with the consumption of L. casei Shirota-fermented milk. Furthermore, the consumption of the fermented milk product resulted in a slight but signi®cant increase in the moisture content of the faecal samples (P`0.05). No treatment effects were observed for any of the immune parameters measured (including natural killer (NK) cell activity, phagocytosis and cytokine production). Conclusions:The results suggest that consumption of L. casei Shirota-fermented milk is able to modulate the composition and metabolic activity of the intestinal¯ora and indicate that L. casei Shirota-fermented milk does not in¯uence the immune system of healthy immunocompetent males.

From the present study, we conclude that peanuts contain multiple allergens, of which six can be described as major allergens, Ara h2 included. In our population Ara h1 is not a major allergen. The recognition of peanut proteins by immunoglobulins is more diverse in PA individuals compared with NA individuals which, however, is not substantiated in the concentrations of peanut-specific immunoglobulins in plasma, other than IgE.

These studies show that the BN rat may provide a suitable animal model for inducing specific IgG and IgE responses as well as specific T-cell mediated hypersensitivity (DTH) to ovalbumin upon exposure via the enteral route without the use of adjuvants.

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