Probiotics In Animals Research Articles

EVALUATION OF THE TOXICITY OF LACTOBACILLUS ACIDOPHILUS LAP5 IN A 28‐DAY FEEDING STUDY IN WISTAR RATS

ABSTRACT We have previously screened lactic acid bacteria strains from porcine intestine and evaluated their functional properties. We found a strain of Lactobacillus acidophilus LAP5 is with potential for use as human and animal probiotics. However, the safety of the strain in consideration must be evaluated. The present study was conducted to evaluate the toxicity of strain L. acidophilus LAP5 in Wistar rats by dietary administration at concentrations of 2.1 × 1011, 1.05 × 1011 and 4.2 × 109 CFU per kg body weight of rat per day for 28 days. There were no adverse effects on the general condition and behavior, growth, feed and water consumption, hematology, clinical chemistry indexes, organ weights and histopathologic analysis. Results of this study demonstrated that consumption of strain L. acidophilus LAP5 was not associated with any signs of toxicity in Wistar rats even following consumption of large quantities.

Response surface methodology for optimizing the fermentation medium of Clostridium butyricum.

Strains of Clostridium butyricum have been increasingly used as probiotics for both animals and humans. The aim of this study was to develop a growth medium for cultivating C. butyricum ZJUCB using a statistical methodology. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to evaluate the effects of variables, namely the concentrations of the glucose, pectin, soyabean cake extract, casein, corn steep flour, ammonium sulphate, sodium bicarbonate and the medium initial pH. A fractional factorial design was applied to study the main factors that affected the growth of a probiotic strain of C. butyricum currently preserved in our lab and the central composite experimental design was adopted to derive a statistical model for optimizing the composition of the fermentation medium. The experimental results showed that the optimum fermentation medium for the growth of C. butyricum was composed of 2% glucose (w/v), 0.5% pectin (w/v), 0.2% casein (w/v), 3.98% soyabean cake extract, 0.1% (NH4)2SO4 (w/v), 0.124% NaHCO3 (w/v), 0.37% corn steep flour (w/v), 0.02% MnSO4 H2O (w/v), 0.02% MgSO4 7H2O (w/v) and 0.002% CaCl2 (w/v) at pH 7.5. After incubating 24 h in the optimum fermentation medium, the populations of the viable organisms were estimated to be 10(9) CFU ml(-1). In the present study, we report the optimization of a growth medium that produced increased yields using statistical approach. The use of bacteria as a probiotic is showing increasing potential. The development of a growth medium that has a high yield is an obvious need, and the approach to optimizing a growth medium is innovative.

Bacterial spores as heat stable vaccine vehicles

Recently, the first use of bacterial spores as vaccine vehicles was reported, showing that mice orally immunised with Bacillus subtilis spores expressing a tetanus antigen could be protected against lethal challenge with tetanus toxin. Unlike many second generation vaccine systems currently under development, none offer the heat stability of bacterial spores or the flexibility for genetic manipulation. The current use of Bacillus spores as probiotics for both humans and animals may facilitate their eventual licensing as oral vaccines. This review reports the progress that has been made in the establishment of bacterial spores as vaccine vehicles and outlines the potential advantages of the spore vaccine approach.

The use of probiotics in aquaculture

The research of probiotics for aquatic animals is increasing with the demand for environment-friendly aquaculture. The probiotics were defined as live microbial feed supplements that improve health of man and terrestrial livestock. The gastrointestinal microbiota of fish and shellfish are peculiarly dependent on the external environment, due to the water flow passing through the digestive tract. Most bacterial cells are transient in the gut, with continuous intrusion of microbes coming from water and food. Some commercial products are referred to as probiotics, though they were designed to treat the rearing medium, not to supplement the diet. This extension of the probiotic concept is pertinent when the administered microbes survive in the gastrointestinal tract. Otherwise, more general terms are suggested, like biocontrol when the treatment is antagonistic to pathogens, or bioremediation when water quality is improved. However, the first probiotics tested in fish were commercial preparations devised for land animals. Though some effects were observed with such preparations, the survival of these bacteria was uncertain in aquatic environment. Most attempts to propose probiotics have been undertaken by isolating and selecting strains from aquatic environment. These microbes were Vibrionaceae, pseudomonads, lactic acid bacteria, Bacillus spp. and yeasts. Three main characteristics have been searched in microbes as candidates to improve the health of their host. (1) The antagonism to pathogens was shown in vitro in most cases. (2) The colonization potential of some candidate probionts was also studied. (3) Challenge tests confirmed that some strains could increase the resistance to disease of their host. Many other beneficial effects may be expected from probiotics, e.g., competition with pathogens for nutrients or for adhesion sites, and stimulation of the immune system. The most promising prospects are sketched out, but considerable efforts of research will be necessary to develop the applications to aquaculture.

Probiotics in young and newborn animals

1. Effect of dietary addition of wormwood (Artemisia montana Pampan) on performance of fattening pigs and selected hematological and immunological indices G.M. Chu, Y.M. Song Livestock Science CrossRef

Present and Future of Probiotics in Germany and in Central Europe

The present situation in Europe can be characterized by a very diversified and expanding market for probiotics. Several species offer themselves for use as probiotics depending on stability requirements, such as well known lactobacilli, enterococci, and spore forming strains. In recent time, efforts can be recognized to introduce L. reuteri for application in animal nutrition and in dairy products. Effects of probiotics in man and animals must be demonstrated very convincingly in the field of animal husbandry, not so rigorously at the pharmaceutical sector and only facultatively in the field of food applications, due to requirements in German and EC legislated regulations. Safety aspects will be regulated especially in the field of animal nutrition by a very restrictive guideline from the Brussels authorities, in the field of pharmaceuticals by the national registration bodies and in the food area by the responsibility of the producers and the distributors based on food legislation regulations. If probiotic cultures will be used in food in Germany it is forbidden to propagate special health aspects with the probiotic ingredient of the product. That is not so strictly the case in the neighbouring countries. There is a controversary discussion going on in Germany if health claims or the term “good for health” contains advertisement like for a pharmaceutical specimen. The propagation which might be accepted up to now seems to be “wellness of the human being”.

Probiotics and manipulation of rumen development and function

There is good evidence that the bacterial and fungal probiotics are effective in the manipulation of rumen development and function. The effects of adherent Streptococcus bovis preparations were manifested by significant increase of adherent S. bovis bacteria and alpha amylase activity in the rumen wall of young ruminants. Fungal probiotics based on Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus oryzae are rapidly gaining acceptance as a means of improving productivity in adult ruminants. However, fungal probiotics may also have a complementary role to bacterial probiotics in young animals. Dietary yeast improved performance of calves and lambs in terms of feed intake and live weight gain and Aspergillus foetidus was effective in altering rumen fermentation in newly weaned lambs.

Probiotics in man and animals

There is good evidence that the complex microbial flora present in the gastrointestinal tract of all warm-blooded animals is effective in providing resistance to disease. However, the composition of this protective flora can be altered by dietary and environmental influences, making the host animal susceptible to disease and/or reducing its efficiency of food utilization. What we are doing with the probiotic treatments is re-establishing the natural condition which exists in the wild animal but which has been disrupted by modern trends in conditions used for rearing young animals, including human babies, and in modern approaches to nutrition and disease therapy. These are all areas where the gut flora can be altered for the worse and where, by the administration of probiotics, the natural balance of the gut microflora can be restored and the animal returned to its normal nutrition, growth and health status.