1: Appl Environ Microbiol. 2006 Oct;72(10):6533-8.

Effect on Components of the Intestinal Microflora and Plasma Neuropeptide Levels
of Feeding Lactobacillus delbrueckii, Bifidobacterium lactis, and Inulin to
Adult and Elderly Rats.

Lesniewska V, Rowland I, Cani PD, Neyrinck AM, Delzenne NM, Naughton PJ.

NICHE, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster, Cromore Road,
Coleraine, Co. Londonderry BT 52 1SA, United Kingdom. pj.naughton@ulster.ac.uk.

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of the mixture of Lactobacillus
delbrueckii subsp. rhamnosus strain GG, Bifidobacterium lactis Bb12, and inulin
on intestinal populations of lactobacilli, bifidobacteria, and enterobacteria in
adult and elderly rats fed the same (in quality and quantity) diet. The portal
plasma levels of two neuropeptides, neuropeptide Y (NPY) and peptide YY (PYY),
were also evaluated to assess the physiological consequences of the synbiotic
treatment for the gastrointestinal (GI) tracts of rats of different ages. Adult
(n = 24) and elderly (n = 24) male rats were fed the AIN-93 M maintenance diet.
After 2 weeks of adaptation, the diet of 12 rats of each age group was
supplemented with 8% inulin and with strains GG and Bb12 to provide 2.2 x 10(9)
CFU of each strain g(-1) of the diet. Blood and different regions of the GI
tract were sampled from all rats after 21 days of the treatment. Treatment with
the mixture of strain GG, strain BB12, and inulin induced significantly
different changes in the numbers of lactobacilli, bifidobacteria, and
enterobacteria of the stomach, small intestine, cecum, and colon microflora.
Moreover, the GG, BB12, and inulin mixture increased the concentrations of NPY
and PYY for adult rats. For the elderly animals, the PYY concentration was not
changed, while the NPY concentration was decreased by treatment with the GG,
BB12, and inulin mixture. The results of the present study indicate that the
physiological status of the GI tract, and not just diet, has a major role in the
regulation of important groups of the GI bacteria community, since even the
outcome of the dietary modification with synbiotics depends on the ages of the
animals.

PMID: 17021202 [PubMed - in process]

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