Dairy based-LAB Improved Constipation Via Increasing Fecal Bulk and Decreasing Concentration of Fecal Threonine While Preserving Colonic Goblet Cell Count

Mohamad Jaafar¹, Pei Xu¹^,¹⁰, Uma-Mageswaran Mageswaran¹, Shandra-Devi Balasubramaniam², Maheswaran Solayappan³, Jia Woon⁴, Cindy Teh⁴, Svetoslav Todorov⁵, Yong Park⁶, Guoxia Liu⁷^,⁸^,^*, Min Liong¹^,⁹^,^**

Author Information & Copyright ▼

¹Bioprocess Technology, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 11800, Malaysia.

²Faculty of Medicine, AIMST University, Bedong, Kedah 08100, Malaysia.

³Faculty of Applied Sciences, AIMST University, Bedong , Kedah 08100, Malaysia.

⁴Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Selangor 50603, Malaysia.

⁵ProBacLab, Department of Food Science and Experimental Nutrition, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo 05508-090, Brazil.

⁶Probionic Corp., Dongchonje-gil, Wanggung-myeon, Iksan-si, Jeollabuk-do 54576, Korea.

⁷CAS Key Laboratory of Microbial Physiological and Metabolic Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100864, China.

⁸CAS-TWAS Centre of Excellence for Biotechnology, Beijing 100101, China.

⁹Renewable Biomass Transformation Cluster, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia,, Penang 11800, Malaysia.

¹⁰Faculty of Cuisine, Sichuan Tourism University,, Chengdu 610100, China.

^*Corresponding Author: Guoxia Liu, CAS Key Laboratory of Microbial Physiological and Metabolic Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100864, China. CAS-TWAS Centre of Excellence for Biotechnology, Beijing 100101, China. Phone: +86 21 54925153. E-mail: liuguoxia@im.ac.cn.

^**Corresponding Author: Min Tze Liong, Bioprocess Technology, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 11800, Malaysia. Renewable Biomass Transformation Cluster, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia,, Penang 11800, Malaysia. Phone: +604 653 2114. E-mail: mintze.liong@usm.my.

© Copyright 2023 Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Constipation, which refers to difficulties in defecation and infrequent bowel movement in emptying the gastrointestinal system that ultimately produces hardened fecal matters, is a health concern in livestock and aging animals. The present study aimed to evaluate the potential effects of dairy-isolated LAB strains to alleviate constipation as an alternative therapeutic intervention for constipation treatment in the aging model. Rats were aged via daily subcutaneous injection of D-galactose (600 mg/body weight (kg)), prior to induction of constipation via oral administration of loperamide hydrochloride (5 mg/body weight (kg)). LAB strains (<italic>L. fermentum</italic> USM 4189 or <italic>L. plantarum</italic> USM 4187) were administered daily via oral gavage (10 log CFU/day) while the control group received sterile saline. Aged rats as shown with shorter telomere lengths exhibited increased fecal bulk and soften fecal upon administration of LAB strains amid constipation as observed using the Bristol Stool Chart, accompanied by a higher fecal moisture content as compared to the control (<italic>p</italic><0.05). Fecal water-soluble metabolite profiles showed a reduced concentration of threonine upon administration of LAB strains compared to the control (<italic>p</italic><0.05). Histopathological analysis also showed that the administration of LAB strains contributed to a higher colonic goblet cell count as compared to the control (<italic>p</italic><0.05). The present study illustrates the potential of dairy-sourced LAB strains as probiotics to ameliorate the adverse effect of constipation amid aging, and as a potential dietary intervention strategy for dairy foods including yogurt and cheese.

Keywords: Constipation; Dairy-based LAB; Probiotics; Aging; Dairy foods