Treatment with Bifidobacterium bifidum 17 partially protects mice from Th1-driven inflammation in a chemically induced model of colitis.

Probiotics have been suggested as an alternative therapeutical approach in the intervention of inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Application of single strains or probiotic mixtures has shown promising results in animal models and patients of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We recently demonstrated potent inhibitory capacity of a Bifidobacterium bifidum S17 on LPS-induced inflammatory events in cell culture models using intestinal epithelial cells and verified these anti-inflammatory effects in two mouse models of colitis.

A serpin from the gut bacterium Bifidobacterium longum inhibits eukaryotic elastase-like serine proteases.

Serpins form a large class of protease inhibitors involved in regulation of a wide spectrum of physiological processes. Recently identified prokaryotic members of this protein family may provide a key to the evolutionary origins of the unique serpin fold and the associated inhibitory mechanism. We performed a biochemical characterization of a serpin from Bifidobacterium longum, an anaerobic Gram-positive bacterium that naturally colonizes human gastrointestinal tract.

Ineffectiveness of Lactobacillus johnsonii LA1 for prophylaxis of postoperative recurrence in Crohn's disease: a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled GETAID trial.

Background And Aims: Early endoscopic recurrence is frequent after intestinal resection for Crohn's disease. Bacteria are involved, and probiotics may modulate immune responses to the intestinal flora. Here we tested the probiotic strain Lactobacillus johnsonii LA1 in this setting.