Meiji's lactic acid bacterium may alleviate side effects of drugs for cardiac disease prevention: Investigated in collaboration with Tokai University

A research group led by Professor Takayoshi Suzuki of the Department of Gastroenterology at Tokai University Hachioji Hospital, in collaboration with Meiji, has found that continuous consumption of yogurt containing Meiji's lactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus paragasseri OLL2716 may alleviate gut microbiota alteration caused via proton pump inhibitor (PPI) monotherapy or PPIs combined with aspirin (PPI + aspirin combination therapy). The results were presented at the 78th Annual Meeting of Japan Society of Nutrition and Food Science.

Aspirin, an antiplatelet drug, is widely used to prevent cardiac and cerebral/vascular diseases. Moreover, PPIs used to prevent aspirin-induced small intestine mucosal injury have been reported to have major effects on the gut microbiota.

In this study, PPI users (17, the PPI group), PPI + aspirin users (16, the aspirin group), and those using neither (16, the control group) consumed two 112-milliliter bottles of yogurt containing strain OLL 2716 daily for 6 weeks. Fecal samples collected before and after yogurt consumption were used for gut microbiota analysis to evaluate the effects of yogurt-containing strain OLL2716 on changes in gut microbiota caused via PPI monotherapy and PPI + aspirin combination therapy.

The results showed that significant differences in gut microbiota between the PPI and aspirin groups and the control group were no longer detected after continuous consumption of yogurt containing strain OLL2716. This suggests that continuous consumption of yogurt containing strain OLL2716 may have alleviated gut microbiota alteration due to PPI monotherapy and PPI + aspirin combination therapy. Moreover, the relative abundance of bacteria in the family Enterobacteriaceae was significantly reduced in the PPI group after consumption of yogurt containing strain OLL2716.

The findings suggest that continued consumption of yogurt containing strain OLL2716 may contribute to health by mitigating gut microbiota alteration caused via PPI monotherapy or PPI + aspirin combination therapy and reducing the relative abundance of Enterobacteriaceae.