In vitro inhibition of Clostridium difficile by commercial probiotics: A microcalorimetric study

Mansa Fredua-Agyeman, Paul Stapleton, Abdul W. Basit, Anthony E. Beezer, Simon Gaisford

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

29 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of some commercial probiotics on the growth of Clostridium difficile using isothermal microcalorimetry, a technique which can monitor the real time growth of bacteria. Commercial probiotic strains and products, Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-5®, Bifidobacterium lactis BB-12®, Probio 7® and Symprove™ were co-cultured with C. difficile in Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) broth supplemented with 0.1% (w/v) L-cysteine hydrochloride and 0.1% (w/v) sodium taurocholate and monitored in the microcalorimeter. Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCIMB 8628 was also co-cultured with C. difficile and studied. The results indicated inhibition of C. difficile by the probiotics. The inhibition of C. difficile was shown to be pH-dependent using neutralized and unmodified cell free supernatant (CFS) produced by the probiotic strains. However, concentrated CFS of the probiotics also inhibited the intestinal pathogen in a non pH-dependent manner, likely due to specific antimicrobial substances produced. The results also indicated that C. difficile growth was greatly influenced by the presence of sodium taurocholate and by the pH of the medium. A medium pH of between 6.45 and 6.9 demonstrated maximum growth of the organism in the microcalorimeter.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)96-103
Number of pages8
JournalInternational Journal of Pharmaceutics
Volume517
Issue number1-2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Jan 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Clostridium difficile
  • Co-culture
  • Inhibition
  • Isothermal microcalorimetry
  • Probiotics

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