Lactobacillus acidophilus

Lactobacillus acidophilus (New Latin 'acid-loving milk-bacillus') is a species of Gram-positive bacteria in the genus Lactobacillus. L. acidophilus is a homofermentative, microaerophilic species, fermenting sugars into lactic acid, and grows readily at rather low pH values (below pH 5.0) and has an optimum growth temperature of around 37 °C (99 °F).[1] L. acidophilus is found in the human and animal gastrointestinal tract and mouth.[2] Some strains of L. acidophilus may be considered to have probiotic characteristics.[3] These strains are commercially used in many dairy products, sometimes together with Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus in the production of acidophilus-type yogurt, or acidophiline. Its genome has been sequenced.[4]

Lactobacillus acidophilus
Lactobacillus acidophilus, Numbered ticks are 11 μm
Scientific classification
Domain: Bacteria
Phylum: Bacillota
Class: Bacilli
Order: Lactobacillales
Family: Lactobacillaceae
Genus: Lactobacillus
Species:
L. acidophilus
Binomial name
Lactobacillus acidophilus
(Moro 1900) Hansen & Mocquot 1970
Lactobacillus acidophilus, electron micrograph

L. acidophilus was found to lower serum cholesterol and raise cholesterol in fecal matter when fed to pigs.[5] These pigs were fed the same amount of food, with the same nutritional content, but one group received saline solution with L. acidophilus while the other group received just the saline. The group given the saline with the bacteria had lowered serum cholesterol compared to the control group. Pigs were chosen because their digestive system is similar to that of humans.

L. acidophilus is also correlated with antagonistic actions upon growth for Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, and Clostridium perfringens.[6] The S. aureus, out of the four organisms, was the most affected by L. acidophilus. However, along with S. aureus, the other gram positive bacteria C. perfringens, was affected more by L. acidophilus, than the two other bacteria that are gram negative.

L. acidophilus is found to also reduce oral plaque formation by Streptococcus mutans.[7] Although some research has been done, more needs to be done to determine how strong the effect is on S. mutans, what the effect is, and how exactly the effect is executed on L. acidophilus. The research was performed in the lab, and not on animals.

The viability of L. acidophilus cells encapsulated by spray drying technology stored at refrigerated condition (4 °C) was found to be higher than the viability of cells stored at room temperature (25 °C).[8]

Vaginal microbiota

Lactobacillus acidophilus is part of the vaginal microbiota along with other species in the genus including Lactobacillus crispatus, Lactobacillus gasseri, Lactobacillus jensenii, and Lactobacillus iners.[4][9][10][11] In lab experiments, L. acidophilus seemed to decrease Candida albicans’ ability to adhere to vaginal epithelial cells; however, L. acidophilus’ role in preventing yeast infections is unclear because this species of Lactobacilli has also been found not to have a very strong ability to adhere to (and thereby colonize) the vaginal cells.[12]

Side effects

Although probiotics are generally safe, when they are used by oral administration there is a small risk of passage of viable bacteria from the gastrointestinal tract to the blood stream (bacteremia), which can cause adverse health consequences.[13] Some people, such as those with a compromised immune system, short bowel syndrome, central venous catheters, cardiac valve disease and premature infants, may be at higher risk for adverse events.

Therapeutic applications

Many claims are made for Lactobacillus acidophilus, as for many probiotic supplements, of health benefits when consumed, generally by improving or restoring the gut flora.[14][15][16] Probiotics are considered generally safe to consume, but may cause bacteria-host interactions and unwanted side effects in rare cases.[17][18]

Some strains of L. acidophilus have been studied extensively for health effects. The Mayo Clinic publishes a list of disorders for which L. acidophilus has been tested, grading the evidence for each use from strong evidence of effectiveness, through unclear, down to strong evidence of ineffectiveness. According to the list there is good (rather than strong) evidence supporting the use of L. acidophilus or yogurt enriched with it for the treatment of some vaginal infections; effectiveness for other conditions ranges from unclear to fair negative evidence.[19]

A blend of bacterial strains including L. acidophilus NCFM decreased the incidence of pediatric diarrhea. L. acidophilus led to a significant decrease in levels of toxic amines in the blood of dialysis patients with small bowel bacterial overgrowth. At adequate daily feeding levels, L. acidophilus may facilitate lactose digestion in lactose-intolerant subjects.[20]

The Mayo Clinic lists use of L. acidophilus for heart disease among those "based on tradition or scientific theories" that "often have not been thoroughly tested in humans, and safety and effectiveness have not always been proven."[19]

Uses for lactose intolerance

There are many fermented dairy products that use L. acidophilus including yogurt and some types of cheese. Sweet acidophilus milk is consumed by individuals who suffer from lactose intolerance or maldigestion, which occurs when enzymes (specifically lactase) cannot break down lactose (milk sugar) in the intestine. Failure to digest lactose results in discomfort, cramps and diarrhea.[21] Some bacteria have been shown to improve lactose digestion by providing β-galactosidase, while some L. acidophilus strains have been linked to improvement in symptoms and indicators of lactose indigestion.[22]

See also

References
  1. Bâati L, Fabre-Gea C, Auriol D, Blanc PJ (September 2000). "Study of the cryotolerance of Lactobacillus acidophilus: effect of culture and freezing conditions on the viability and cellular protein levels". International Journal of Food Microbiology. 59 (3): 241–247. doi:10.1016/S0168-1605(00)00361-5. PMID 11020044.
  2. "Bacteria Genomes – Lactobacillus acidophilus". European Bioinformatics Institute. Retrieved 2007-08-22.
  3. Ljungh A, Wadström T (September 2006). "Lactic acid bacteria as probiotics". Current Issues in Intestinal Microbiology. 7 (2): 73–89. PMID 16875422.
  4. Fijan S (May 2014). "Microorganisms with claimed probiotic properties: an overview of recent literature". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 11 (5): 4745–4767. doi:10.3390/ijerph110504745. PMC 4053917. PMID 24859749.
  5. Gilliland SE, Nelson CR, Maxwell C (February 1985). "Assimilation of cholesterol by Lactobacillus acidophilus". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 49 (2): 377–381. Bibcode:1985ApEnM..49..377G. doi:10.1128/AEM.49.2.377-381.1985. PMC 238411. PMID 3920964.
  6. Gilliland SE, Speck ML (December 1977). "Antagonistic Action of Lactobacillus acidophilus Toward Intestinal and Foodborne Pathogens in Associative Cultures 1". Journal of Food Protection. 40 (12): 820–823. doi:10.4315/0362-028x-40.12.820. PMID 30736216.
  7. Tahmourespour A, Kermanshahi RK (February 2011). "The effect of a probiotic strain (Lactobacillus acidophilus) on the plaque formation of oral Streptococci". Bosnian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences. 11 (1): 37–40. doi:10.17305/bjbms.2011.2621. PMC 4362563. PMID 21342140.
  8. Arepally D, Reddy RS, Goswami TK (November 2020). "Studies on survivability, storage stability of encapsulated spray dried probiotic powder". Current Research in Food Science. 3: 235–242. doi:10.1016/j.crfs.2020.09.001. PMC 7575842. PMID 33103122.
  9. Aagaard K, Riehle K, Ma J, Segata N, Mistretta TA, Coarfa C, et al. (2012). "A metagenomic approach to characterization of the vaginal microbiome signature in pregnancy". PLOS ONE. 7 (6): e36466. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...736466A. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036466. PMC 3374618. PMID 22719832.
  10. Senok AC, Verstraelen H, Temmerman M, Botta GA (October 2009). "Probiotics for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (4): CD006289. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD006289.pub2. PMID 19821358.
  11. Nardis C, Mosca L, Mastromarino P (September–October 2013). "Vaginal microbiota and viral sexually transmitted diseases". Annali di Igiene. 25 (5): 443–456. doi:10.7416/ai.2013.1946. PMID 24048183.
  12. Can Yogurt Prevent Yeast Infections?. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona. 28 February 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  13. Durchschein F, Petritsch W, Hammer HF (February 2016). "Diet therapy for inflammatory bowel diseases: The established and the new". World Journal of Gastroenterology (Review). 22 (7): 2179–2194. doi:10.3748/wjg.v22.i7.2179. PMC 4734995. PMID 26900283.
  14. Ghouri YA, Richards DM, Rahimi EF, Krill JT, Jelinek KA, DuPont AW (9 December 2014). "Systematic review of randomized controlled trials of probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics in inflammatory bowel disease". Clinical and Experimental Gastroenterology. 7: 473–487. doi:10.2147/CEG.S27530. PMC 4266241. PMID 25525379.
  15. "Probiotics". National Health Service. 27 November 2018.
  16. "Probiotics: What You Need To Know". National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, US National Institutes of Health. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  17. Doron S, Snydman DR (May 2015). "Risk and safety of probiotics". Clinical Infectious Diseases (Review). 60 (Suppl 2): S129–S134. doi:10.1093/cid/civ085. PMC 4490230. PMID 25922398.
  18. Singhi SC, Kumar S (2016). "Probiotics in critically ill children". F1000Research (Review). 5: 407. doi:10.12688/f1000research.7630.1. PMC 4813632. PMID 27081478.
  19. "Mayo Clinic: Evidence – Lactobacillus acidophilus". Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  20. Sanders ME, Klaenhammer TR (2001). "Invited review: the scientific basis of Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM functionality as a probiotic". J Dairy Sci. 84 (2): 319–331. doi:10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(01)74481-5. PMID 11233016.
  21. de Roos N, Katan M (1 February 2000). "Effects of probiotic bacteria on diarrhea, lipid metabolism, and carcinogenesis: a review of papers published between 1988 and 1998". Am J Clin Nutr. 71 (2): 405–11. PMID 10648252.
  22. Yuan-Kun Lee (2009). Handbook of Probiotics (2nd ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 441–443. ISBN 978-0-470-13544-0.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.