Lactobacillus fermentum strains of dairy-product origin adhere to mucin and survive digestive juices

Introduction. There is an ever present need to isolate and characterize indigenous bacterial strains with potential probiotic health benefits for humans. Aim. Lactobacillus fermentum of dairy origin was focused because of its propensity to adhere to the intestinal glycoprotein, mucin. Methodology. The lactobacillus strains were screened for mucin adhesion, resistance to low pH and bile, autoaggregation, hydrophobicity, and survival in an in vitro digestion model. The cholesterol-lowering and oxalate-degrading effects of selected strains were also determined. Safety was assessed for haemolytic, mucinolytic and gelatinase activity, biogenic amine production, antibiotic resistance and phenol resistance. Expression of the 32-mmub adhesion-related gene was also measured following strain exposure to simulated gastrointestinal tract (GIT) digestion. Results. The selected mucin-adhesive strains were tolerant to acid (pH 3.0) and bile (0.25 %) and demonstrated >85% survival following simulated human digestion in the presence of milk. The digestive treatment did not affect the adhesive potential of PL20, and PL27, regardless of the food matrix. The simulated digestion had less effect on their adhesion than on the type strain and it also did not correlate with the mmub gene expression level as determined by qPCR. The selected strains exhibited cholesterol removal (36-44%) and degraded oxalate (66-55%). Neither of these strains exhibited undesirable characteristics. Conclusion. These preliminary findings suggest a functionality in the two strains of L. fermentum with high colonization potential on GIT mucosal membranes and possible health-promoting effects. This prima facie evidence suggests the need for further studies to test these probiotic candidates as live biotherapeutic agents in vivo.