Department of Gastroenterology, Gastroenterology Unit, Maggiore della Carità Hospital, Novara, Italy.
J Clin Gastroenterol. 2010 Sep;44 Suppl 1:S42-6. doi: 10.1097/MCG.0b013e3181ed0e71.
Beneficial findings concerning probiotics are increasing day by day. However, one of the most important parameter which affects the probiotic activity of a microorganism is its survival during the gastroduodenal transit. Some microencapsulation techniques could be applied to bacterial cells to improve this parameter.
A comparison between the intestinal colonization by microencapsulated bacteria and the same not microencapsulated strains has been conducted in a double blind, randomized, cross-over study. The study (April to July 2005) involved 44 healthy volunteers. In particular, participants were divided into 2 groups: group A (21 participants) received a mix of probiotic strains Lactobacillus plantarum LP01 (LMG P-21021) and Bifidobacterium breve BR03 (DSM 16604) in an uncoated form, group B (23 participants) was given the same strains microencapsulated with a gastroresistant material. The not microencapsulated strains were administered at 5 x 10(9) colony forming units/strain/d for 21 days, whereas the microencapsulated bacteria were given at 1 x 10(9) colony forming units/strain/d for 21 days. At the end of the first period of treatment with probiotics a 3 weeks washout phase has been included in the study protocol. At the end of the washout period the groups were crossed: in detail, group A had the microencapsulated and group B the uncoated bacteria. The administered amounts of each strain were the same as the first treatment. The quantitative evaluation of intestinal colonization by strains microencapsulated or not microencapsulated was made by fecal samples examination at the beginning of the clinical trial, after 10 and 21 days of each treatment period. In particular, fecal heterofermentative Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria have been counted.
A statistically significant increase in the fecal amounts of Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria was recorded in both groups at the end of each treatment compared with d0 or d42 (P<0.0001 and P<0.0001 at d21, P<0.0001 and P<0.0001 at d63 for Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria, respectively), confirming the ability of the 2 strains to colonize the human gut, either in a gastroprotected form or not. Participants treated with the microencapsulated bacteria reported a kinetics of intestinal colonization quite similar to participants who received not coated strains.
Probiotics are able to exert many different beneficial effects on the human host. These effects are mediated by the number of viable cells which reach the gut. The microencapsulation technique used in this study is a valid strategy to significantly improve gastroresistance of strains, thus enhancing their probiotic activity and allowing the use of a 5 times lower amount.
有益的发现益生菌的研究每天都在增加。然而，影响微生物益生菌活性的最重要的参数之一是其在胃十二指肠转运过程中的存活率。一些微囊化技术可以应用于细菌细胞以提高这一参数。
在一项双盲、随机、交叉研究中，对微囊化细菌和相同非微囊化菌株的肠道定植进行了比较。该研究（2005 年 4 月至 7 月）涉及 44 名健康志愿者。具体来说，参与者被分为 2 组：A 组（21 名参与者）以未包被形式接受植物乳杆菌 LP01（LMG P-21021）和短双歧杆菌 BR03（DSM 16604）的混合益生菌菌株，B 组（23 名参与者）给予用胃耐材料微囊化的相同菌株。未包被的菌株以 5×10(9)cfu/株/天的剂量给予 21 天，而微囊化的细菌以 1×10(9)cfu/株/天的剂量给予 21 天。在益生菌治疗的第一期结束时，研究方案中包括了 3 周的洗脱期。在洗脱期结束时，两组交叉：详细地说，A 组接受微囊化细菌，B 组接受未包被的细菌。每种菌株的给予量与第一治疗相同。通过在临床试验开始时、每个治疗期的第 10 天和第 21 天进行粪便样本检查，对微囊化或未微囊化菌株的肠道定植进行定量评估。具体而言，计算了粪便中异型发酵乳杆菌和双歧杆菌的数量。
与 d0 或 d42 相比，在每个治疗结束时，两组的粪便中乳杆菌和双歧杆菌数量均显著增加（P<0.0001 和 P<0.0001 在第 21 天，P<0.0001 和 P<0.0001 在第 63 天，分别为乳杆菌和双歧杆菌），证实了这两种菌株能够定植人类肠道，无论是以胃保护形式还是不保护形式。接受微囊化细菌治疗的参与者的肠道定植动力学与接受未包被菌株治疗的参与者相当相似。
益生菌对人类宿主有许多不同的有益作用。这些作用是由到达肠道的活菌数量介导的。本研究中使用的微囊化技术是一种有效的策略，可以显著提高菌株的胃耐受力，从而增强其益生菌活性，并允许使用低 5 倍的剂量。
