Adhesive Property of Different Strains of Lactobacilli in the Presence of Resveratrol

Abstract

The ability of bacteria to adhere to the intestinal epithelial cells is one of the main criteria for selection of new probiotic strains. Some dietary polyphenols have been proven to affect bacterial adhesion, providing a rationale for the use of mixtures of polyphenols and probiotics. Resveratrol, a naturally occurring stilbene in plants, has been shown to have a number of beneficial biological effects. The adhesion ability of four Lactobacillus strains (Lactobacillus brevis, L. fermentum, L. gasseri, and L. plantarum), in the presence of resveratrol, has been investigated in an in vitro model based on mixed co-culture of Caco-2 and HT29-MTX intestinal epithelial cells. The effective concentration of resveratrol used in the adhesion experiment has been selected based on cytotoxicity test. Resveratrol at three physiologically low concentrations (4.5, 2.25, and 1.125 μg ml-1), added together with the bacterial suspension, had no statistically significant influence on the adhesion of any strain (P < 0.05). Since the health benefits of polyphenols are often associated with the composition of gut microbiota, the knowledge of interactions between known bacteria and polyphenols would be of high scientific value.