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LGG lead to discrete alterations in gut microbiota among elderly
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Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG ATCC 53103 was associated with distinct, transient effects on anti-inflammatory pathways in gut microbiota among an elderly cohort, according to study results.
“There is great need to systematically study the effects of probiotic bacteria on the autochthonous microbial community in the human gut to further elucidate how these organisms confer beneficial outcomes to the host and substantiate commercial health claims,” Emiley A. Eloe-Fadrosh, PhD, of the Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote. “The gut microbiota of elderly people provides a unique system to study the fitness landscape of the presumptive healthy, aging microbiota and assess the community stability and dynamics. We found that community composition was not modified due to probiotic intake; however, community-wide transcriptional changes were evident.”
For the open-label, clinical trial, the researchers gathered fecal samples from 12 healthy adults aged between 65 and 80 years residing in the Boston area and assessed the safety and tolerability of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG ATCC 53103 (LGG).
According to results of 16S rRNA profiling, the overall community composition was stable. However, modulation of the transitional response of the gut microbiota occurred with probiotic treatment, according to the researchers.
The researchers additionally observed gene expression that was increased during probiotic consumption, “including genes involved in flagellar motility, chemotaxis, and adhesion from Bifidobacterium and the dominant butyrate producers Roseburia and Eubacterium … suggesting that LGG may promote interactions between key constituents of the microbiota and the host epithelium.”
“These results provide evidence for the discrete functional effects imparted by a specific single-organism probiotic and challenge the prevailing notion that probiotics substantially modify the resident microbiota within nondiseased individuals in an appreciable fashion,” the researchers wrote.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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