Institut Rosell-Lallemand Drives Probiotic Research

Our aim is to gain in-depth knowledge of our selected probiotic strains, their characteristics and modes of action, while exploring further their possible applications, “in” and “beyond” the gut.

12 Jan 2010 --- As a pioneer in probiotics research and applications for over 75 years, Institut Rosell-Lallemand invests significant resources in probiotics research, both in applied and basic science; either in-house and through partnerships with top researchers in the field. Our aim is to gain in-depth knowledge of our selected probiotic strains, their characteristics and modes of action, while exploring further their possible applications, “in” and “beyond” the gut. As we are closing the books on 2009, we count no less than sixteen scientific articles published in international journals involving our probiotic strains. Various areas of health were addressed, from gastrointestinal health to immunity or the brain-gut axis, with very innovative work demonstrating the possible impact of certain probiotics at the brain level. Our scientists and partners also presented some promising research at various international conferences (such as the Digestive Disease Week, Sackler Colloquium, IFT, or Rome’s Probiotics, Prebiotics & New Foods Meeting…). Here is a short overview of some of this year’s significant findings concerning our key commercial formulations and probiotics strains.

Probiotics and the brain-gut axis

Probably the most innovative study, which was rewarded during the last Probiotic Challenge by Institut Rosell and was later published in the British Journal of Nutrition, was conducted by the team of Dr. Guy Rousseau in Montreal (Girard et al., June 2009). This study demonstrates a clear role for probiotics in the brain-gut axis, an exciting and innovative direction for probiotics research which holds promise in mental health and the management of stress and anxiety.

In a rat model of myocardial infarction, the oral probiotic preparation Probio’Stick was shown to reduce the injury due to apoptosis in those areas of the brain which control the limbic system, indicating a potential to diminish post-myocardial infarction depression.

New findings in digestive health

A more established and significant area of probiotics research concerns the effects of certain probiotics in enteric infections. A recent publication (Gareau et al., December 2009) shows that the administration of Lacidofil (a specific blend of the two strains L. helveticus R0052 and L. rhamnosus R0011) in Citrobacter rodentium infected neonatal mice could prevent newborn death, and that this protection was mediated through the activation of adaptive immunity (T cells) and an improvement in intestinal barrier function. This was the first time that a probiotic preparation was shown to prevent death in neonatal mice infected with C. rodentium, a pathogen considered as an ideal model to study host-bacterial pathogen interactions in vivo (C. rodentium uses molecular mechanisms similar to enteropathogenic and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli in human). The authors suggested that these new findings support the use of probiotics in limiting the detrimental effects of enteric bacterial infections in neonates.

A second research project from the same team (Wine et al., Nov. 2009) showed the potential of L. helveticus R0052 against Campylobacter jejuni invasion of human epithelial cells, another significant bacterial pathogen (in vitro study). Indeed, while C. jujeni is known as the most common bacterial cause of enterocolitis in humans, the effects of probiotics against this key pathogen have been poorly studied. Interestingly, in the same study, the probiotic strain L. rhamnosus R0011 did not reduce pathogen invasion, which supports the concept of probiotic strain specificity: one strain cannot do it all.

Strain specificity was also claimed in a study by Jandu et al. (February 2009), where live L. helveticus R0052 but not inactivated cells or cells fragments, nor L. rhamnosus R0011 were able to prevent enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (O157:H7)-mediated subversion of epithelial cell signal transduction responses. Thus, it is understood that L. helveticus R0052 acts as an anti-infectious agent, whereas L. rhamnosus R0011 acts as an anti-inflammatory agent.

If bacterial infections can be targeted with probiotics, through various possible mechanisms (competitive exclusion, immune stimulation…), it is also the case of fungal infection. A study by Zwolinska-Wcislo et al. (March 2009) looked at the impact of Candida albicans infection on the healing of ulcerative colitis in both patients and a rat model of the condition, and the potential of probiotics in reducing colonic inflammatory damages. It showed that a) the fungal infection delays healing of ulcerative colitis in humans and in a rat model and that b) both antifungal therapy and probiotic treatment could be beneficial in the restoration and healing of colonic damage in ulcerative colitis.

Finally, to reiterate the recent symposium on the potential of probiotic L. plantarum 299v in reducing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a recent study by Waugh at al. demonstrated that this particular strain was able to reduce colonic inflammation and normalize intestinal transit rates in a murine model of IBS.

Dr Thomas Tompkins (Canada), Biochemistry & Microbiology Research Director for Institut Rosell-Lallemand, commented: “ Institut Rosell anticipates 2010 will be another stellar year of discovery in the field of probiotics. The completion of the genomes of our major bacteria strains has helped identify several novel factors which may play an important role in the probiotic effects of the bacteria, and the recent development of a specific immune-related microarray will allow researchers to monitor human response to our probiotic strains and formula.”