Strains Improve Constipation Symptoms and Regulate Intestinal Flora in Mice.

Constipation is a prevalent gastrointestinal disorder that seriously reduces the quality of life. Clinical studies have shown that a great change or severe imbalance occurs in the intestinal microbiota of people with constipation. This study explored whether bacteriocin-producing and non-bacteriocin-producing strains resulted in differences in the alleviation of constipation and changes in the fecal flora in BALB/c mice. The constipation-related indicators, gastrointestinal regulatory peptides and gut microbiota were identified to evaluate their alleviating effects and underlying mechanisms. The time to the first black-stool defecation and the gastrointestinal transit rate in constipated mice were found to be somewhat improved by four . strains ( > 0.05). Moreover, there were significant differences in the level of most gastrointestinal regulatory peptides in the serum, as well as in the composition and abundance of intestinal microbiota in different groups ( < 0.05). At the phylum level, the relative abundance of Firmicutes was significantly increased, but those of Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria were significantly reduced after the administration of four . strains for 14 d ( < 0.05). The levels of and genera from were significantly decreased, whereas and were upregulated when bacteriocin-producing . CCFM18 and CCFM28 strains were provided in the diet ( < 0.05). The results indicated that although constipation-related symptoms were alleviated to only a limited degree, the administration of four . strains effectively regulated the gut flora and provided a potential health benefit to the host, especially the bacteriocin-producing . strains.