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Strain-Specific Quantification of Native Probiotic Bacillus spp. and Their Effect on Liver Function and Gut Microflora of Experimental Rats

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Abstract

Safety and efficacy was investigated for two candidate probiotic B. flexus MCC2427 and B. licheniformis MCC2512 via in vivo studies on albino Wistar rats. In acute toxicity assay, rats were fed with single dose of 1010 cfu mL−1 of probiotics. The follow-up studies for next 14 days did not reveal any toxicity-related criteria indicating the non-toxicity nature of probiotics. In 90-day repeated dosage studies, the cultures were administered in three doses (106, 107, 108 cfu mL−1). Results showed no overt toxic effect and no drastic treatment-related changes pertaining to histopathology of vital organs. DNA fingerprinting indicated the lack of bacterial translocation. Superoxide dismutase and catalase activity indicated their antioxidant potential. Reduced serum cholesterol with improved HDL-cholesterol specified the cholesterol-reducing ability of the cultures, which was also apparent with increased excretion of cholic acid in feces. Both probiotic cultures positively altered the gut microbial environment, retained lactic acid bacterial effect, and simultaneously reduced pathogenic strains. A sensitive and rapid tool was developed using strain-specific qPCR primers, which facilitated appropriate estimation of test culture in feces. The data strongly advocate the safety of tested probiotics at levels used in the study.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Director, CSIR-CFTRI, for all the facilities.

Funding

SRP acknowledges the SERB-Department of Science and Technology, Govt of India, New Delhi, for sponsoring the start-up project grant (project no. SR/FT/LS-203/2009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Fermentation Technology, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, 570020, India

    Papanna Shobharani & Prakash M Halami

  2. Animal House Facility, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, 570020, India

    Serva P Muthukumar

  3. Biochemistry and Nutrition Department, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, 570020, India

    Dhanya Kizhakayil

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  1. Papanna Shobharani
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  2. Serva P Muthukumar
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  3. Dhanya Kizhakayil
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  4. Prakash M Halami
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Prakash M Halami.

Ethics declarations

This study was carried out strictly in accordance with the guidelines of Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA), Government of India. All animals received regular human care. The experimental protocol was approved by the Institute Animal Ethical Committee (IAEC No. 287/2014).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Shobharani, P., Muthukumar, S.P., Kizhakayil, D. et al. Strain-Specific Quantification of Native Probiotic Bacillus spp. and Their Effect on Liver Function and Gut Microflora of Experimental Rats. Probiotics & Antimicro. Prot. 11, 478–492 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12602-018-9391-1

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