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How does one bacteria become a probiotic?

Probiotics are live microbes of human origin, the use of which in certain amounts has a positive effect on human health. Lactic acid bacteria are mostly used as probiotics:

  • lactobacilli,
  • bifidobacteria,

but several other microbes are also used. It must be remembered that ALL lactic acid bacteria are NOT probiotics, in other words probiotic is not synonymous with lactic acid bacteria.

The development of a microbe into a probiotic and the scientific evaluation of its health effects are carried out on the basis of international guidelines, i.e. the effects and safety of the microbe strain must be scientifically proven in order to call it a probiotic at all.

Isolation of bacteria

Potential probiotic candidates are mostly selected from the normal microbial community of a healthy person, including a child, or from the gut in the case of oral probiotics. In addition to safety, this also ensures that the microbe is able to pass through the upper parts of the digestive tract in a viable state and reach the specific area of ​​action of the specific probiotic (mostly the lower part of the small intestine or the large intestine). The amount of live microbes that reach the destination is important for the health effect to manifest. Probiotics must therefore be resistant to the action of stomach acid, bile and other digestive enzymes.

Safety

The safety of dietary supplements and microbes ingested with food is crucial to human health. Some microbes (lactobacilli, bifidobacteria, lactococci, etc.), whose use in the food industry has proven their safety, have been assigned a so-called presumably safe status. Despite this, there is a need to thoroughly test the safety of any microbe developed into a probiotic, including:

  • lack of transferable antibiotic resistance;
  • lack of certain properties that can give the microbe the ability to cause disease (virulence factors);
  • production of potentially harmful metabolic products, etc.

The safety of the microbial strain is tested in test tubes and on laboratory animals. The safety of use and possible side effects are evaluated in a clinical trial with healthy human volunteers.

Technological suitability

Since the probiotic must remain viable during technological handling and the product's shelf life, it is also important to find out the microbe's nutrient and temperature preferences, growth rate, etc., cultivability in larger quantities, and the stability of the dry culture obtained by freeze drying.

Clinical studies

The effect of the probiotic microbe on human health parameters is tested in science-based clinical trials with various test schemes thoroughly planned in view of good clinical practices, which must be pre-registered in international databases to ensure transparency.

The health effects of the probiotic microbe are studied in double-blind or open-label studies with different lengths and experimental designs (cross-over or parallel arms).

In laboratory experiments, the biochemical and physiological properties of the microbe are tested to find out its mechanisms of action, and the genetic background is determined.

Health benefits

As a result of decades of research, the use of probiotics has been scientifically proven to have a number of positive effects on human health:

  • relief of lactose intolerance and food allergies,
  • lowering the level of cholesterol in the blood serum,
  • lowering blood pressure;
  • maintaining the microbial balance of the digestive tract - restoration,
  • prevention of diarrhoea,
  • alleviation of non-infectious intestinal inflammations (e.g. irritable bowel syndrome),
  • moderate stimulation of the immune system,
  • reducing the risk of cancer-like formations,
  • antioxidant activity and reduction of oxidative stress,
  • oral health,
  • prevention and mitigation of urinary and genital tract infections, etc.

Some of the aforementioned properties are common to most probiotics, especially aspects related to digestion and gut health. Targeted properties (e.g. lowering cholesterol or blood pressure, antioxidant activity) are strain-specific, so not all probiotics have these properties.

Nordwise® brand probiotic supplements

As a result of years of continuous research and development, the researchers of BioCC OÜ, a company operating in Tartu, have developed patented beneficial probiotic lactic acid bacteria in cooperation with UT researchers.

Nordwise® food supplements of the BioCC brand contain precisely these patented beneficial bacteria and vitamins and minerals that support the specific health effects of the probiotic microbe strain.

Today, the following nutritional supplements of the Nordwise® series, invented and produced in Estonia, have reached the market:

  1. heart-supporting Heart Friend ® TENSIA ® (contains Lactobacillus plantarum TENSIA ® together with vitamins and minerals having a corresponding synergistic effect)
  2. Cholesterol-controlling Heart Friend ® INDUCIA ® (contains the bacterium L. plantarum INDUCIA ® , which works synergistically with monacolin K, Q10 and B vitamins).
  3. the new nutritional supplement IMMUMAR ® supporting the normal functioning of the immune system (contains the bacterium L. plantarum INDUCIA ® together with vitamins and minerals that have a corresponding synergistic effect).
  4. PlantaBif®, which enriches the intestinal microbiota (contains the bacteria Lactobacillus plantarum TENSIA®, Lactobacillus plantarum INDUCIA®, Lactobacillus plantarum MCC1, Bifidobacterium longum, Bifidobacterium infantis ).
  5. Flexellent®, which supports joint health and digestion (contains lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillus plantarum INDUCIA®, Lactobacillus plantarum MCC1, BiovaFlex® (egg shell hydrolyzate), vitamin K2MK7 (menaquinone-7), vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol)).
  6. Ferrumar®, which supports hematopoiesis and digestion (contains lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillus plantarum INDUCIA® and Lactobacillus plantarum TENSIA ®, vitamins B9, B12, iron, vitamin D3 and vitamin K2MK7).
  7. Bifimar®, which supports children's digestion and immune system (contains lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillus plantarum MCC1 and Bifidobacterium infantis and vitamin D3).

Author: Epp Songisepp PhD, senior researcher at BioCC

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