IN VITRO EFFECTS OF HUMAN BREAST MILK AND TWO FUNCTIONAL FOODS CANDIDATES ON CLOSTRIDIOIDES (CLOSTRIDIUM) DIFFICILE GROWTH

Abstract

Introduction: Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile is an anaerobic bacterial species commonly found in the human intestine. In some conditions, like gut dysbiosis, it can manifest its pathogenicity, causing a large spectrum of colitis. The prophylactic administration of probiotics or a combination of probiotics and prebiotic substances, called symbiotic products as an adjuvant for antibiotic treatment, has been tested to reduce the duration of clinical manifestations and to prevent relapses, but the results are not conclusive. Objectives: This study aims to evidence the in vitro effects of C. difficile growth under the influence of two candidate functional foods (traditional sour wheat bran beverage and pickle juice), which have both probiotic with prebiotic properties and of the breast milk, known for its prebiotic components. Methods: A number of three clinical strains of C. difficile isolated from patients with post-antibiotic C. difficile infections were used in order to investigate the effects of domestic origin product fractions and breast milk on the C. difficile strains growth. Results: We found a dose-dependent stimulatory effect of the traditional sour wheat bran beverage fractions, possibly due to the presence of some unknown growth factors. Unmodified pickle juice and the resulting supernatant also have dose-dependent inhibitory effects on C. difficile growth, while inactivated cell sediment had no noticeable effect. Conclusions: Further exploration is needed to be able to exploit the inhibitory effect of sour wheat bran beverage and pickle juice on C. difficile growth and to identify and isolate biological components from these functional foods. Keywords: functional food, Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile infection, gastrointestinal microbiota, probiotics, prebiotic