Lactobacillus fermentum ME-3 - an antimicrobial and antioxidative probiotic.

Marika Mikelsaar,Mihkel Zilmer

doi:10.1080/08910600902815561

Abstract

The paper lays out the short scientific history and characteristics of the new probiotic Lactobacillus fermentum strain ME-3 DSM-14241, elaborated according to the regulations of WHO/FAO (2002). L. fermentum ME-3 is a unique strain of Lactobacillus species, having at the same time the antimicrobial and physiologically effective antioxidative properties and expressing health-promoting characteristics if consumed. Tartu University has patented this strain in Estonia (priority June 2001, patent in 2006), Russia (patent in 2006) and the USA (patent in 2007). The paper describes the process of the identification and molecular typing of this probiotic strain of human origin, its deposition in an international culture collection, and its safety assessment by laboratory tests and testing on experimental animals and volunteers. It has been established that L. fermentum strain ME-3 has double functional properties: antimicrobial activity against intestinal pathogens and high total antioxidative activity (TAA) and total antioxidative status (TAS) of intact cells and lysates, and it is characterized by a complete glutathione system: synthesis, uptake and redox turnover. The functional efficacy of the antimicrobial and antioxidative probiotic has been proven by the eradication of salmonellas and the reduction of liver and spleen granulomas in Salmonella Typhimurium-infected mice treated with the combination of ofloxacin and L. fermentum strain ME-3. Using capsules or foodstuffs enriched with L. fermentum ME-3, different clinical study designs (including double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover studies) and different subjects (healthy volunteers, allergic patients and those recovering from a stroke), it has been shown that this probiotic increased the antioxidative activity of sera and improved the composition of the low-density lipid particles (LDL) and post-prandial lipids as well as oxidative stress status, thus demonstrating a remarkable anti-atherogenic effect. The elaboration of the probiotic L. fermentum strain ME-3 has drawn on wide international cooperative research and has taken more than 12 years altogether. The new ME-3 probiotic-containing products have been successfully marketed and sold in Baltic countries and Finland.

Highlights

The host and its microbiota together form a complex ecological system
It has been established that L. fermentum strain ME-3 has double functional properties: antimicrobial activity against intestinal pathogens and high total antioxidative activity (TAA) and total antioxidative status (TAS) of intact cells and lysates, and it is characterized by a complete glutathione system: synthesis, uptake and redox turnover
Using capsules or foodstuffs enriched with L. fermentum ME-3, different clinical study designs and different subjects, it has been shown that this probiotic increased the antioxidative activity of sera and improved the composition of the low-density lipid particles (LDL) and post-prandial lipids as well as oxidative stress status, demonstrating a remarkable anti-atherogenic effect

Summary

Introduction

The host and its microbiota together form a complex ecological system. Despite temporary or sometimes even long-lasting imbalance due to various exogenous and endogenous influences, its individual stability is still achieved by different mechanisms. Savage introduced an understanding of indigenous microbial flora, which was composed from autochthonous (endogenous, specific for the host species) and allochthonous (exogenous, occasional) microbes (3Á5). They recognized that two types of microbiota can be differentiated in the cavities of particular organs: the luminal and mucosal microbiota. The luminal microbiota consists of some resident unattached microbes, autochthonous microbes released from different vertical biotopes of the GI tract and the transient allochthonous microbes from diet, water and the environment. The colonization resistance (CR), defined in the early 1970s [31], is the most important first-line defence against invasive pathogenic organisms such as Clostridium difficile, Salmonella, Shigella, Candida albicans, etc. and indigenous opportunistic microbes

Luminal

Summary and conclusions

Findings

66. Food Agriculture Organization