Randomised clinical trial: Bifidobacterium lactis NCC2818 probiotic vs placebo, and impact on gut transit time, symptoms, and gut microbiology in chronic constipation.

Background: Constipation is a prevalent gastrointestinal disorder. Patient dissatisfaction with prescribed medications is common, and there is need for alternative management strategies. Evidence shows that Bifidobacterium species may be beneficial in constipation.

Chronic gastrointestinal inflammation induces anxiety-like behavior and alters central nervous system biochemistry in mice.

Background & Aims: Clinical and preclinical studies have associated gastrointestinal inflammation and infection with altered behavior. We investigated whether chronic gut inflammation alters behavior and brain biochemistry and examined underlying mechanisms.

Methods: AKR mice were infected with the noninvasive parasite Trichuris muris and given etanercept, budesonide, or specific probiotics.

Yeast, beef and pork extracts counteract Clostridium difficile toxin A enterotoxicity.

Clostridium difficile is responsible for a large proportion of nosocomial cases of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and pseudomembranous colitis. The present study provides evidence that yeast, beef and pork extracts, ingredients commonly used to grow bacteria, can counteract C. difficile toxin A enterotoxicity in vitro and in vivo.

Synergy between Lactobacillus paracasei and its bacterial products to counteract stress-induced gut permeability and sensitivity increase in rats.

Stressful events result in the alteration of gut permeability and sensitivity. Lactobacillus paracasei NCC2461 (Lpa) therapy prevents antibiotic-induced visceral hyperalgesia in mice. This study aimed at evaluating the influence of 3 probiotic strains: Bifidobacterium lactis NCC362, Lactobacillus johnsonii NCC533, and Lpa on stress-mediated alterations of colorectal hyperalgesia, on gut paracellular permeability and whether bacteria and/or bacterial products present in the spent culture medium (SCM) were involved in the antinociceptive properties of the effective strain.

Transgenomic metabolic interactions in a mouse disease model: interactions of Trichinella spiralis infection with dietary Lactobacillus paracasei supplementation.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a common multifactorial intestinal disorder for which the aetiology remains largely undefined. Here, we have used a Trichinella spiralis (T. spiralis)-induced model of post-infective IBS, and the effects of probiotic bacteria on gut dysfunction have been investigated using a metabonomic strategy.

Nutritional approach to restore impaired intestinal barrier function and growth after neonatal stress in rats.

Objectives: Psychological stress during the neonatal period results in intestinal barrier dysfunction and growth alterations later in life. We aimed to restore impaired barrier function and growth rate by a nutritional intervention.

Methods: Male rat pups (n = 84) were assigned to 1 of 2 rearing conditions from postnatal day (PND) 2 to PND14: S, separated 3 h/d from their mothers, or H, 15 min/d handled controls.

Probiotics as a treatment strategy for gastrointestinal diseases?

Current interest in probiotics is motivated not only by the clinical data showing efficacy of some probiotic bacteria but also by the increasing antibiotic resistance of pathogenic bacteria (particularly in hospitals) and the rise of consumers' demand for natural substitutes of drugs. Only few randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled human trials are available, and some involved only small numbers of patients. They are difficult to compare because of differences in probiotic strains employed, doses and formulation.

Lactobacillus paracasei normalizes muscle hypercontractility in a murine model of postinfective gut dysfunction.

Background & Aims: The effects of probiotics on gut dysfunction in postinfective irritable bowel syndrome are unknown. We tested whether probiotics influence persistent muscle hypercontractility in mice after recovery from infection with Trichinella spiralis and analyzed the underlying mechanisms.

Methods: Mice were gavaged with Lactobacillus paracasei, Lactobacillus johnsonii, Bifidobacterium longum, or Bifidobacterium lactis in spent culture medium from days 10 to 21 after infection.

Cell surface-associated elongation factor Tu mediates the attachment of Lactobacillus johnsonii NCC533 (La1) to human intestinal cells and mucins.

The aim of this work was to identify Lactobacillus johnsonii NCC533 (La1) surface molecules mediating attachment to intestinal epithelial cells and mucins. Incubation of Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cells with an L. johnsonii La1 cell wall extract led to the recognition of elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) as a novel La1 adhesin-like factor.