Plasma Amino Acid Response to Whey Protein Ingestion Following 28 Days of Probiotic (Bacillus subtilis DE111) Supplementation in Active Men and Women

Abstract

We sought to determine if 28 days of probiotic supplementation influenced the plasma amino acid (AA) response to acute whey protein feeding. METHODS: Twenty-two recreationally active men (n = 11; 24.3 ± 3.2 yrs; 89.3 ± 7.2 kg) and women (n = 11; 23.0 ± 2.8 yrs; 70.2 ± 15.2 kg) participated in this double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study. Before (PRE) and after 28 days of supplementation (POST), participants reported to the lab following a 10-hr fast and provided a resting blood draw (0 min), then subsequently consumed 25 g of whey protein. Blood samples were collected at 15-min intervals for 2 h post-consumption (15–120 min) and later analyzed for plasma leucine, branched-chain AA (BCAA), essential AA (EAA), and total AA (TAA). Participants received a probiotic (PROB) consisting of 1 x10-9 colony forming units (CFU) Bacillus subtilis DE111 (n = 11) or a maltodextrin placebo (PL) (n = 11) for 28 days. Plasma AA response and area under the curve (AUC) values were analyzed via repeated measures analysis of variance. RESULTS: Our analysis indicated no significant (p < 0.05) differential responses for plasma leucine, BCAA, EAA, or TAA between PROB and PL from PRE to POST. AUC analysis revealed no group × time interaction for plasma leucine (p = 0.524), BCAA (p = 0.345), EAA (p = 0.512), and TAA (p = 0.712). CONCLUSION: These data indicate that 28 days of Bacillus subtilis DE111 does not affect plasma AA appearance following acute whey protein ingestion.

Probiotic BC30 Improves Amino Acid Absorption from Plant Protein Concentrate in Older Women

“…Additionally, greater maximum concentrations were also found for arginine, serine, ornithine, methionine, glutamic acid, phenylalanine, isoleucine, tyrosine, the sum of the essential amino acids, and the sum of all amino acids when BC30 was added to the milk protein dose. These results contrasted the results found by Townsend et al [16] who conducted a similar study in 22 healthy active men (24.3 ± 3.2 years) that examined the ability of a different bacillus strain, Bacillus subtilis DE111, at a dose of 1 × 10 9 CFU when combined with a 25-g dose of whey protein to impact amino acid appearance. These authors reported no differential responses between leucine, branched-chain amino acid, essential amino acids, and total amino acids and found no difference in area under the curve, highlighting that the benefits of probiotics are strain specific.…”

“…These findings align with the previous findings of Stecker et al [8] who reported that arginine and isoleucine area under the curve values were greater in addition to greater peak concentrations for arginine, serine, ornithine, methionine, glutamic acid, phenylalanine, isoleucine, tyrosine, essential amino acids, and total amino acids when BC30 was added to a milk protein concentrate. These findings, however, do contrast with Townsend et al [16] who had 22 healthy, active men (24.3 ± 3.2 years) supplement with a 25-g dose of whey protein for 14 days in a crossover fashion with and without the addition of a daily one billion CFU dose of Bacillus subtilis and reported no changes in amino acid appearance. While the study designs are similar between these two investigations, the key difference was the probiotic strain used in each investigation.…”

“…In addition to protein source, the age of all recruited cohorts is another important consideration as it pertains to examining the potential impact of co-ingestion a probiotic with a protein source to improve amino acid appearance following digestion. As highlighted throughout, all previous studies [6,8,16] utilized cohorts of young participants ranging in average ages of 24-26 years of age. In this respect, "anabolic resistance" is a well-established phenomenon in the skeletal muscle of older adults whereby muscle protein synthesis is diminished in response to both resistance exercise [19] and protein ingestion [20,21].…”

In vitro and in silico assessment of probiotic and functional properties of Bacillus subtilis DE111®

“…Clinical studies have shown DE111 ® to alleviate occasional constipation or diarrhea in healthy adults, while regulating blood lipid levels and suppressing gut and peripheral inflammation (Cuentas et al, 2017;Trotter et al, 2020;Freedman et al, 2021). In adult athletes, DE111 ® consumption reduced circulating TNF-α levels in blood and enhanced body composition in females when combined with post-workout nutrition (Toohey et al, 2020;Townsend et al, 2021). In pediatric cohort (children aged between 2 and 6 years) DE111 ® was well tolerated and was associated with positively modulating the gut microbiome (Paytuví-Gallart et al, 2020).…”

Preclinical Safety Assessment of Bacillus subtilis BS50 for Probiotic and Food Applications

“…For example, the B. subtilis strain MB40 has been shown to be safe and support GI health in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 100 healthy adults [ 17 , 35 ]. Additionally, B. inaquosorum DE111 supplementation has been shown to be safe in both adult and pediatric human subjects [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 ]. Altogether, these studies provide a large body of clinical evidence that Bacillaceae spp., including B. subtilis , are safe for human consumption.…”