The aim of this study was to evaluate in an in vitro colon simulation, if the combination of several probiotic strains (HOWARU Restore; Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM, Lactobacillus paracasei Lpc-37, Bifidobacterium lactis Bl-04 and B. lactis Bi-07) had an influence on each other’s survival as compared to the strains as single preparations.

1. INTRODUCTION
SIMULATING COLONIC SURVIVAL OF PROBIOTICS IN SINGLE
STRAIN PRODUCTS AS COMPARED TO MULTI-STRAIN PRODUCTS
The human gastrointestinal tract contains variety of
microbes which may affect the survival of probiotics
in a different way. Commercially, multi-strain
preparations have been suggested to express an
improved functionality over single strain cultures.
However, probiotics are often tested as single
strains. The aim of this study was to evaluate in an
in vitro colon simulation, if the combination of
several probiotic strains (HOWARU Restore;
Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM, Lactobacillus
paracasei Lpc-37, Bifidobacterium lactis Bl-04 and
B. lactis Bi-07) had an influence on each other’s
survival as compared to the strains as single
preparations.
Figure 1. Illustration of one simulation unit with four sequentially connected glass vessels
(V1-V4) mimicking human colon from proximal to distal part. Synthetic ileal fluid as a simulation
media, pH controlled, anaerobic conditions at 37 °C.
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S. Forssten*, K. M. Salli*, A.C. Ouwehand*
* DuPont Nutrition & Health
Global Health & Nutrition Science
Sokeritehtaantie 20
02460 KANTVIK, FINLAND
E-mail: krista.salli@dupont.com
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Lactobacillus spp
Lactobacillus acidophilus
Lactobacillus paracasei
Bifidobacterium spp.
B. lactis BL-04
B. lactis Bi-07
log10perml
Restore NCFM BL-04 Bi-07 NCFM+BL-04 Lpc-37 CTRL
MATERIALS & METHODS
RESULTS
CONCLUSIONS
The in vitro colon simulations of multi-strain and
single strain probiotics were performed as
previously described (Ref.1, Fig. 1). The control
(CTRL) represents the same synthetic ileal medium
used for feeding the simulator but without
freeze-dried bacteria. DNA was extracted and the
quantities of probiotic strains were determined by
qPCR.
All strains could be detected after the colon
simulations to which they had been fed (Fig 2).
There were no substantial differences in levels of
the same strain when comparing single and
multi-strain products.
Probiotics do not have an antagonistic effect upon
each other’s survival when in a multi-strain product
compared to a single-strain product. References: 1, Mäkeläinen H, Olli K, Forssten S, Granlund L, Rautonen N, Ouwehand AC. Probiotic lactobacilli in a semi-soft
cheese survive in the simulated human gastrointestinal tract. Int Dairy J. 2009(19):675-83.
Figure 2. Microbial quantities presented as mean ± SEM for the pooled vessels (V1-V4) from
three separate colon simulations. X-axis represents the analysed species or strains, while the
quantity is expressed as log10 copies per ml. Statistical differences marked for treatment vs con-
trol as *p<0.05 (students t-test).