Lahtinen Sampo J, Forssten Sofia, Aakko Juhani, Granlund Linda, Rautonen Nina, Salminen Seppo, Viitanen Matti, Ouwehand Arthur C
Danisco Bioactives, Health & Nutrition, Sokeritehtaantie 20, 02460, Kantvik, Finland.
Age (Dordr). 2012 Feb;34(1):133-43. doi: 10.1007/s11357-011-9208-6. Epub 2011 Jan 25.
Aging is associated with alterations in the intestinal microbiota and with immunosenescence. Probiotics have the potential to modify a selected part of the intestinal microbiota as well as improve immune functions and may, therefore, be particularly beneficial to elderly consumers. In this randomized, controlled cross-over clinical trial, we assessed the effects of a probiotic cheese containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 and Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM on the intestinal microbiota and fecal immune markers of 31 elderly volunteers and compared these effects with the administration of the same cheese without probiotics. The probiotic cheese was found to increase the number of L. rhamnosus and L. acidophilus NCFM in the feces, suggesting the survival of the strains during the gastrointestinal transit. Importantly, probiotic cheese administration was associated with a trend towards lower counts of Clostridium difficile in the elderly, as compared with the run-in period with the plain cheese. The effect was statistically significant in the subpopulation of the elderly who harbored C. difficile at the start of the study. The probiotic cheese was not found to significantly alter the levels of the major microbial groups, suggesting that the microbial changes conferred by the probiotic cheese were limited to specific bacterial groups. Despite that the administration of the probiotic cheese to the study population has earlier been shown to significantly improve the innate immunity of the elders, we did not observe measurable changes in the fecal immune IgA concentrations. No increase in fecal calprotectin and β-defensin concentrations suggests that the probiotic treatment did not affect intestinal inflammatory markers. In conclusion, the administration of probiotic cheese containing L. rhamnosus HN001 and L. acidophilus NCFM, was associated with specific changes in the intestinal microbiota, mainly affecting specific subpopulations of intestinal lactobacilli and C. difficile, but did not have significant effects on the major microbial groups or the fecal immune markers.
衰老与肠道微生物群的改变以及免疫衰老有关。益生菌有可能改变肠道微生物群的特定部分并改善免疫功能，因此可能对老年消费者特别有益。在这项随机、对照交叉临床试验中，我们评估了一种含有鼠李糖乳杆菌HN001和嗜酸乳杆菌NCFM的益生菌奶酪对31名老年志愿者肠道微生物群和粪便免疫标志物的影响，并将这些影响与食用不含益生菌的相同奶酪进行了比较。结果发现，益生菌奶酪可增加粪便中鼠李糖乳杆菌和嗜酸乳杆菌NCFM的数量，这表明这些菌株在胃肠道转运过程中能够存活。重要的是，与食用普通奶酪的导入期相比，食用益生菌奶酪的老年人中艰难梭菌的数量有减少的趋势。在研究开始时携带艰难梭菌的老年亚组中，这种影响具有统计学意义。未发现益生菌奶酪能显著改变主要微生物群的水平，这表明益生菌奶酪带来的微生物变化仅限于特定细菌群。尽管之前已证明向研究人群施用益生菌奶酪可显著提高老年人的先天免疫力，但我们未观察到粪便免疫球蛋白A浓度有可测量的变化。粪便钙卫蛋白和β-防御素浓度未增加表明益生菌治疗未影响肠道炎症标志物。总之，食用含有鼠李糖乳杆菌HN001和嗜酸乳杆菌NCFM的益生菌奶酪与肠道微生物群的特定变化有关，主要影响肠道乳酸杆菌和艰难梭菌的特定亚群，但对主要微生物群或粪便免疫标志物没有显著影响。
