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Inter-species differences in the growth of bifidobacteria cultured on human milk oligosaccharides

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Abstract

Human milk (HM) contains as the third most abundant component around 200 different structures of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). HMOs are the first and irreplaceable prebiotics for infants, supporting bifidobacteria as the most important bacterial group in an infant intestine. The aim of our study was to test the growth of bifidobacteria in HM and on HMOs. Bifidobacteria were isolated from two groups of infants. The first one (eight strains) were isolated from infants who had bifidobacteria in their feces but, after a short period of time (4 to 24 days), bifidobacteria were no longer detected in their feces (disappeared bifidobacteria [DB]). The second group of bifidobacteria (eight strains) originated from infants with continual presence of bifidobacteria in their feces (persistent bifidobacteria [PB]). There were significant differences (p < 0.05) between DB and PB groups in the ability of the strains to grow in HM. PB grew in HM, reaching counts higher than 7 log CFU/ml. In contrast, counts of DB decreased from 5 to 4.3 log CFU/ml after cultivation in HM. The final pH after cultivation of bifidobacteria on HMOs was 6.2 and 4.9 in DP and PB groups, respectively. In general, Bifidobacterium bifidum and B. breve species were able to utilize HMOs, while B. adolescentis and B. longum subsp. longum species did not. The ability to grow in HM and to utilize HMOs seem to be important properties of bifidobacteria which are able to colonize infant intestinal tract.

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Abbreviations

HM:

Human milk

HMOs:

Human milk oligosaccharides

BM:

Basal medium

PB:

Persistent bifidobacteria

DB:

Disappeared bifidobacteria

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grant MSM No. 6046070901 of Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of Czech Republic, grant of the Danone Institute. We also thank Dr. Ingrid Kocourková from the Institute for the Care of Mother and Child (Prague, Czech Republic) for supplying us with HM samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Agrobiology Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamycka 129, Prague 6, 165 21, Czech Republic

    Sarka Rockova, Vojtech Rada, Eva Vlkova & Vera Bunesova

  2. Department of Paediatrics, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, V Uvalu 84, Prague, 5 150 06, Czech Republic

    Jiri Nevoral

  3. Joint Laboratory of Institute of Experimental Botany Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and Research Institute of Crop Production, Rozvojova 263, Prague, 6 165 02, Czech Republic

    Petr Marsik

Authors
  1. Sarka Rockova
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  2. Vojtech Rada
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  3. Jiri Nevoral
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  4. Petr Marsik
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  5. Eva Vlkova
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  6. Vera Bunesova
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Correspondence to Vojtech Rada.

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Rockova, S., Rada, V., Nevoral, J. et al. Inter-species differences in the growth of bifidobacteria cultured on human milk oligosaccharides. Folia Microbiol 57, 321–324 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-012-0134-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-012-0134-5

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