Probiotics to prevent the need for, and augment the use of, antibiotics

Authors

K. Millsap, The University of Western Ontario
G. Reid, The University of Western Ontario
H. C. Van der Mei, The University of Western Ontario
H. J. Busscher, The University of Western Ontario

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-1994

Journal

Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Volume

60

Issue

6

First Page

1867

Last Page

1874

URL with Digital Object Identifier

10.1128/aem.60.6.1867-1874.1994

Abstract

The displacement of Enterococcus faecalis 1131 from hydrophobic and hydrophilic substrata by isolates of Lactobacillus casei 36 and Streptococcus hyointestinalis KM1 was studied in a parallel plate flow chamber. The experiments were conducted with either 10 mM potassium phosphate buffer or human urine as the suspending fluid, and adhesion and displacement were measured by real-time in situ image analysis. The results showed that E. faecalis 1131 was displaced by lactobacilli (31%) and streptococci (74%) from fluorinated ethylene propylene in buffer and that displacement by lactobacilli was even more effective on a glass substratum in urine (54%). The passage of an air-liquid interface significantly impacted on adhesion, especially when the surface had been challenged with lactobacilli (up to 100% displacement) or streptococci (up to 94% displacement). These results showed that the parallel plate flow system with real-time in situ image analysis was effective for studying bacterial adhesion and that uropathogenic enterococci can be displaced by indigenous bacteria.