A novel probiotic, Lactobacillus johnsonii 456, resists acid and can persist in the human gut beyond the initial ingestion period

Abstract

Probiotics are considered to have multiple beneficial effects on the human gastrointestinal tract, including immunomodulation, pathogen inhibition, and improved host nutrient metabolism. However, extensive characterization of these properties is needed to define suitable clinical applications for probiotic candidates. Lactobacillus johnsonii 456 (LBJ 456) was previously demonstrated to have anti-inflammatory and anti-genotoxic effects in a mouse model. Here, we characterize its resistance to gastric and bile acids as well as its ability to inhibit gut pathogens and adhere to host mucosa. While bile resistance and in vitro host attachment properties of LBJ 456 were comparable to other tested probiotics, LBJ 456 maintained higher viability at lower pH conditions compared to other tested strains. LBJ 456 also altered pathogen adhesion to LS 174T monolayers and demonstrated contact-dependent and independent inhibition of pathogen growth. Genome analyses further revealed possible genetic elements involved in host attachment and pathogen inhibition. Importantly, we show that ingestion of Lactobacillus johnsonii 456 over a one week yogurt course leads to persistent viable bacteria detectable even beyond the period of initial ingestion, unlike many other previously described probiotic species of lactic acid bacteria.

Stingless Bee Honey: Evaluating Its Antibacterial Activity and Bacterial Diversity

“…Evidence-based study has shown its probiotic attribute, in particular the inhibition of pathogenic Helicobacter pylori adhesion-and its subsequent activity in the human intestine-therefore reducing gastritis symptoms [46]. Aside from that, L. johnsonii has potential as marketable probiotic substance due to its great resistance towards gastric acid in stomach [47]. This bacterial species appeared to be abundant in the honey of Heterotrigona erythrogastra species (9.52%) ( Table S2).…”

Probiotics in the next-generation sequencing era

“…Discrepancies associated with the treatment may be related to species 100 -and strain 101 -specific probiotic traits, resulting in differential clinical efficacy between trials comparing various probiotic microorganisms; 102 in the case of commercially available products, the batch-to-batch variation might result in different outcomes. 103 Host factors that might affect probiotics colonization and/or efficacy include diet, 104 age, 105,106 antibiotics exposure, 107,108 underlying medical conditions, 109,110 and baseline microbiome composition [111][112][113] and function. 114,115 Methodological advances in next-generation sequencing, metabolomics, and gnotobiotics, now enable a better understanding of concepts such as colonization resistance or permissiveness to exogenous microorganisms, biogeographical diversity, inter-individual variability in microbiome configuration, and how these may affect the response to therapies.…”

“…118 Competitive exclusion of pathogens from the gut mucosa and their displacement has been suggested to be among the antagonistic mechanisms of probiotics. 112,[119][120][121][122] A beneficial effect of probiotic microorganisms on intestinal barrier integrity may also require interaction with the epithelium: Binding of L. casei GG to specific receptors on enterocytes is required to upregulate MUC2, 123 and adhesion of Lactobacillus strains to epithelial cells enhances production of MUC3. 124 However, whether such probiotics mucosal colonization universally exists remained debated.…”

“…A handful of studies directly sampling the host mucosa in humans [125][126][127][128] and porcine models 129,130 suggested that probiotics universally inhabit the gut mucosa during administration or shortly thereafter, while others have shown inconsistencies across participants and sites along the gastrointestinal tract, [131][132][133][134] however due to relatively small sample sizes, host and microbiome factors that promote or resist colonization have not been fully elucidated in these studies. Other non-invasive works, which examined probiotic strains presence in stool samples as a proxy for their persistence in the gut mucosa following cessation of their administration, have yielded similarly confusing findings, as probiotics were detected only in subsets of examined human individuals 112,[133][134][135][136][137][138][139][140][141][142][143][144][145] and rats. 113 Several other recent works associated the extent to which supplemented probiotics colonized the guts of animals or humans to their ability to ameliorate colitis 146 (in mice), depression 147 (in rats) or IBS (in humans).…”

Effects of calcium level and source, acidification, and phytase on phytate degradation and the microbiota in the digestive tract of broiler chickens

“…Relative abundance of L. johnsonii ranged from 34-53% and depended on acidi cation and Ca level (Table S12). Hence, treatments probably in uenced the contribution of L. johnsonii to P utilization and affected other traits of L. johnsonii; probiotic characteristics are assigned to L. johnsonii, such as reduced adhesion to the epithelial cells and inhibited growth of pathogenic microorganisms in humans [16], and they are further known to positively in uence measures related to the immune system of broilers [17]. Relative abundance of OTUs assigned to strains of L. reuteri summed up to a range of 6-26%.…”