Therapeutic effect of Streptococcus thermophilus CRL 1190-fermented milk on chronic gastritis

AIM: To investigate the potential therapeutic effect of exopolysaccharide (EPS)-producing Streptococcus thermophilus (S. thermophilus) CRL 1190 fermented milk on chronic gastritis in Balb/c mice. METHODS: Balb/c mice were fed with the fermented milk for 7 d after inducing gastritis with acetyl-salicylic acid (ASA, 400 mg/kg body weight per day for 10 d). Omeprazole was included in this study as a positive therapeutic control. The gastric in? ammatory activity was evaluated from gastric histology and in? ammation score, number of interleukin-10 (IL-10), interferon-γ (INFγ) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) cytokine-producing cells in the gastric mucosa, and thickness of the mucus layer. RESULTS: Animals receiving treatment with the EPS-producing S. thermophilus CRL 1190 fermented milk showed a conserved gastric mucosa structure similar to that of healthy animals. In? ammation scores of the fermented milk-treated mice were lower than those of mice in the gastritis group (0.2 ± 0.03 vs 2.0 ± 0.6, P < 0.05). A marked decrease in INFγ+ (15 ± 1.0 vs 28 ± 1.2, P < 0.05) and TNF-α+ (16 ± 3.0 vs 33 ± 3.0, P < 0.05) cells and an increase in IL-10+ (28 ± 1.5 vs 14 ± 1.3, P < 0.05) cells compared to the gastritis group, was observed. Also, an increase in the thickness of the mucus gel layer (2.2 ± 0.6 vs 1.0 ± 0.3; 5.1 ± 0.8 vs 1.5 ± 0.4 in the corpus and antrum mucosa, respectively, P < 0.05) compared with the gastritis group was noted. A milk suspension of the purif ied EPS from S. thermophilus CRL1190 was also effective as therapy for gastritis.

Effect of Daily Consumption of <i>Lactobacillus reuteri </i>CRL 1098 on Cholesterol Reduction in Hypercholesterolemic Subjects

The effect of daily consumption of a yogurt containing Lactobacillus reuteri CRL 1098 on the lipid profile of hypercholesterolemic subjects was evaluated by performing a prospective, randomized, double-blind, cross-over placebo controlled clinical study. Participants consumed daily a yogurt containing L. reuteri CRL 1098 or a placebo for four weeks, separated by a wash-out period. Total cholesterol, triacylglycerol, high-density (HDL) and low-density (LDL) lipoprotein levels were assessed at the beginning and at the end of each period. We found a statistically significant reduction of total (–7.86 g/dl) and LDL (–7.02 g/dl) cholesterol in absolute changes (before-after) as well as a decreasing trend in the group receiving the yogurt containing L. reuteri with respect to the placebo group, without detecting changes in HDL-cholesterol and triacylglycerol levels. Our results suggest that low amounts of yogurt (125 g/day) and low doses of the CRL 1098 strain (106 CFU) are sufficient to reduce total and LDL-cholesterol levels in hypercholesterolemic subjects.