Adhesion studies for probiotics: Need for validation and refinement

S. Blum (Corresponding Author), R. Reniero, E. Schiffrin, Ross Crittenden, Tiina Mattila-Sandholm, A. Ouwehand, Seppo Salminen, Atte von Wright, Maria Saarela, M. Saxelin, K. Collins, L. Morelli

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview Articlepeer-review

    93 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Adhesion of probiotic bacteria to intestinal epithelial cells is regarded as a prerequisite to exert beneficial health effects. Human intestinal epithelial lines, like Caco-2 or HT-29 cells, have been extensively used to select for adhesive strains in vitro. Adhesion to intestinal mucus has been used to a lesser extent. However, to date, there has been no standardization of the conditions used in in vitro adhesion assays. As a consequence, results obtained in different laboratories using identical strains, but different assay conditions, show great variability. This lack of standardization complicates the interpretation of data and discrepancies emerge on what is meant by effective adhesion. A critical validation of in vitro adhesion is essential for the food industry, using adhesion assays as predicitve screening tools to assess new probiotic strains. In this review we summarize a comparative study on adhesion of the well characterized probiotic bacteria L. johnsonii La1 and L. rhamnosus GG with respect to the influence of bacterial growth conditions, growth phase, buffer, pH, and mucus on adhesion properties. The results are employed in the current scientific discussion to allow a critical evaluation on the reliability of the in vitro assays.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)405-410
    Number of pages6
    JournalTrends in Food Science and Technology
    Volume10
    Issue number12
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1999
    MoE publication typeA2 Review article in a scientific journal

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