Probiotic lozenge fights periodontitis

Periodontitis is a complicated bacterial infection in the gums generally caused by a dysbiosis in the oral microbiome. It results is an immune response which inflames the gums, and after a long time causes pockets to develop in the gums that can be further infected by harmful bacteria. The usual treatment for this problem is the physical removal, or scraping away of the accumulated bacteria in these sensitive pockets. A team of researchers in Istanbul, Turkey did a study published by the Journal of Clinical Periodontology in which they tested the effects of a probiotic lozenge, Prodentis®, on the periodontitis condition.

Forty participants with periodontitis were involved in this double-blind study and randomly placed into a placebo group or a group that would consume a probiotic lozenge twice a day for three weeks, after brushing their teeth in the morning and at night. The probiotic used in this experiment was Lactobacillus reuteri, which is a bacterium we have discussed on the blog previously because of its probiotic characterization and because it commonly resides in the gut.

Samples were taken from the participants at day 21, 90, 180, and 360 to test for bleeding on probing (BoP), plaque (PI), gingival indices (GI), and probing depth (PD). The researchers found a significant reduction in probing depth on day 360 in the patients receiving the probiotic, compared to those receiving the placebo. Also, significantly fewer patients were at high risk for periodontitis disease at day 360 if they received the probiotic. As for the presence of L. reuteri in the mouth of participants taking the probiotic, on day 21 the bacteria was detected in six patients and on day 90 it was detected in eleven. No L. reuteri was detected in patients on days 180 and 360, making the levels not statistically different from the baseline sample before the start of the trial.

So what do the results of this study tell us? The participants receiving the Prodentis® probiotic lozenge had improved clinical and microbiological states compared to the placebo group. No long-term statement about L. reuteri colonization capabilities can be said however, because the microorganism was not detected in the probiotic group at days 180 and 360. At the very least, it seems the probiotic slowed the recolonization of harmful bacteria for up to six months before the levels returned to those pre-treatment, which is a promising step toward a more long-term treatment of periodontitis. 

Treating severe nickel allergies with probiotics

Buffalo nickel, made of 25% nickel.

Systematic nickel allergy syndrome (SNAS) is a severe reaction to nickel, a metal that is found in nature and most human food sources. An allergic reaction to nickel can manifest cutaneously, causing inflammation and irritation of the skin, or it can be gastrointestinal, causing diarrhea. Studies in which balanced diets are used as a way of reintroducing nickel to SNAS patients have been conducted to find possible treatments of this allergy; however no cure has been found. Research by a group in Italy was published last month in the Journal of Applied Microbiology that examined the use of probiotics such as Lactobacillus reuteri to treat SNAS patients.

A double blind study was performed using twenty-two adult women who had both systematic and cutaneous reactions to nickel. A control group received a placebo, while an experimental group received the L. reuteri probiotic. Fecal sampling and clinical evaluations were performed at the start of the study, before any pills were taken, as well as after two weeks of supplementation and two weeks after the end of the trial. Throughout the entire evaluation period the patients followed a low-nickel diet.

Both groups prior to experimentation had low diversity of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) communities in their gut.  After the trial, they found that the control group had stable LAB communities while the experimental group resulted in greater diversity of LAB than prior to the study. They found that only the experimental group showed the presence of L. reuteri meaning that the bacteria in the probiotic had successfully colonized and survived in the gut, an essential feature if a probiotic is to be used in a clinical setting.

They also found a significant improvement in cutaneous symptoms after two weeks in both the group being given the probiotic with a low-nickel diet, as well as the strictly low-nickel diet patient group, however the improvement was more pronounced in the group getting the probiotic. Only patients receiving the supplementary L. reuteri showed a significant reduction in gastrointestinal symptoms. Eating a diet low in nickel will cause less averse reactions than an uncontrolled diet; however, this study strongly suggests that probiotics can significantly decrease the severity of allergy symptoms in SNAS patients. The study also suggests that a combination of diet and probiotics could increase bacteria’s ability to colonize in the intestines. Further long-term studies on the prolonged effects of probiotic use in treating SNAS and other conditions will allow us to better understand how to use probiotics to manipulate the microbiome and treat disease. 

Probiotics help prevent mammary cancer in mice

Happy Halloween!

Editors note:  We know we wrapped up the breast cancer awareness last week, but then we found this fascinating paper and just had to write about it.  Plus, it is the last day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so this post is officially wrapping it up.  And oh yeah, Happy Halloween!  We hope all our trick-or-treating readers receive plenty of fermented foods tonight.

An article published in the International Journal of Cancer explores the effects of probiotic consumption on mice with a predisposition to mammary cancer.  The article also attempts to establish a link between the probiotic and its influence on the immune system.

First, researchers fed mice a high fat diet, similar to a fast food diet.  Compared to controls, these mice had a higher incidence of mammary cancer.  They then repeated these trials but gave some of these fast food mice Lactobacillus reuteri.  Those mice that received the probiotic had a significantly lower rate of mammary cancer symptoms than those that didn’t.  The researchers then conducted a study to see if L. reuteri could help protect from cancer when the factor of obesity was removed.  In this experiment they genetically predisposed some mice to get mammary cancer, and fed these mice the probiotic.  They found that consumption of L. reuteri delayed or completely prevented the development of tumors, when compared to untreated mice.  The researchers go on to suggest that L. reuteri may be increasing the production of a specific type of immune cell, the CD25 T-cell, and this immune cell may be exerting the underlying anticancer effects they are observing.  They tested this hypothesis by transplanting CD25 T-cells into cancerous mice, and blocking CD25 T-cells in mice that were predisposed to cancer, though given the probiotic.  In the mice injected with CD-25 T-cells, their cancer rate decreased.  In the mice where CD25 T-cells were blocked, their cancer rates were the same as mice without the probiotic.

Probiotic bacteria decreased already developed tumors, and, in some cases, prevented tumor growth in animals predisposed to cancer by directly influencing the immune system.  These results reinforce the idea that probiotics are important for a healthy immune system, which is important for overall health.  So keep eating that yogurt, kimchi, and kombucha!

Probiotics and diet affect mouse offspring gender and survival

An article published in late September by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Journal of Probiotics and Health shows the importance of the maternal microbiome in the gender and survival of their offspring. Eight-week-old female mice were fed a control diet, a diet representing human fast food consumption, or a diet in which their drinking water was supplemented by the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri, a bacterium that has been implicated in female oxytocin regulation. Another group of oxytocin-deficient female mice were fed a control diet, or a control diet supplemented by the probiotic. The mice were mated and offspring were observed for three generations.

The researchers concluded that offspring survival increased when mice were given L. reuteri in their diets, and survival decreased significantly with the consumption of a ‘fast food’ diet when compared to the control group. They also concluded that probiotic-treated wild type mothers had an increase in number of female offspring.  However, no increase in female progeny was observed in the probiotic treated mice that were oxytocin deficient, suggesting that probiotic exposure affects levels of oxytocin in females, and this leads to the increase in female offspring.

This research is significant in that it links probiotic intake of mothers to survival of offspring and sex of offspring. It also shows a possible relationship between the microbiome and the hormone oxytocin, which is linked to reproductive and social behavior in female mammals.