Probiotics Adhesion Tests to Host Tissues

In order to exert a probiotic effect, probiotics must first adhere to intestinal epithelial cells and colonize to form a stable flora. Adhesion is crucial in the development of probiotics. Creative Enzymes is committed to providing professional testing services to assess the in vitro adhesion of probiotics to support our clients' probiotic development programs.

Adhesion of Probiotics

Adhesion is an important property of probiotics to function, colonize, and eliminate pathogenic bacteria. If the ingested probiotics do not stay well in the host tissue, they will not be able to exert their due effect. Adherence is the guarantee of the activity of the probiotic itself, which can prevent the probiotic from being removed by gastric acid, bile and other fluids secreted by the gastrointestinal tract and peristalsis of the intestine. A large number of researches have shown that good adhesion is beneficial for the colonization and efficacy of probiotics.

Creative Enzymes is an expert in probiotic research and development, and we provide our clients with professional, comprehensive testing services to accelerate the evaluation of probiotic product performance.

Fig. 1 Schematic representation of antiadhesive properties of probiotics and prebiotics. (Monteagudo-Mera, 2019)

In Vitro Adhesion Testing Services Provided by Creative Enzymes

In vitro assessment of probiotic adhesion mainly includes the detection of self-agglomeration, copolymerization, hydrophobicity and adhesion of probiotics to intestinal epithelial cell lines. Creative Enzymes offers a series of systematic in vitro assays for the initial and more refined detection of probiotic adherence.

In the testing services offered by Creative Enzymes, we determine the in vitro adhesion of probiotics by using cells such as the commonly used Caco-2 cells and mucus-secreting HT-29-MTX. At the same time, the cell adhesion properties of probiotics were complemented by tests such as surface hydrophobic activity, auto-aggregation and co-aggregation. Finally, in the presence of symbiotic microbiota, our tissue model was used to simulate the gastrointestinal environment to assess the more complex adhesive interactions between probiotics and hosts.

In Vitro Adhesion Test Methods in Creative Enzymes

Perception based on the fact that each model can complement the test results of other models. Creative enzymes provide a comprehensive analysis of probiotic adherence in more than one model through a multi-strategy testing approach. The in vitro adhesion tests we provide mainly include the following.

In Vitro Adhesion Test

The main in vitro adhesion test models provided by creative enzymes include：

• Tissue culture cells and cells from hosts

Tissue culture cells are the most widely used model for in vitro adhesion testing. Creative Enzymes uses human epithelial cell lines (HT-29, HT-29MTX, and Caco-2) for in vitro adhesion testing of probiotic strains.

• Intestinal mucus

Creative enzymes use intestinal mucus isolated from feces or excised tissues for adhesion assays. The model allows for the research of mucus adhesion in different groups of subjects.

Aggregation Activity Test

The ability to self-aggregate has an important effect on the adhesion of probiotics to intestinal cells, while co-aggregation eliminates the colonization of gastrointestinal pathogens by preventing pathogens from attaching to host tissues. Creative enzymes assay the aggregation activity of probiotics by measuring the absorbance of a bacterial suspension maintained for a certain time interval.

Determination of Surface Hydrophobic Activity

Cell hydrophobicity determines the ability of bacteria to adhere and is the key to the ability of probiotics to colonize the host tissue. To further assess the adhesion capacity of the probiotic isolates, Creative Enzymes measured the hydrophobicity of the isolates using the Microbial Adherence to Hydrocarbons (MATH) method. This method assesses the hydrophobicity of microorganisms mainly by testing their affinity for solvents (e.g., hexane, xylene, toluene).

Whole Tissue Model Test

Because of the intense competition for adhesion sites between different microorganisms in vivo, the use of additional tissue models to mimic the gut microbiome in vitro is necessary for a comprehensive analysis of the adhesion of individual strains.

Creative enzymes utilize a whole gut tissue model that takes into account the three main parts of the host gut (enterocytes, mucus, and normal microbiota) for a more refined analytical assessment of probiotic adherence.

Creative Enzymes is a professional and experienced probiotic supplier and service provider. We have an experienced scientific team who are dedicated to providing comprehensive probiotic in vitro adhesion testing methods and developing advanced test platforms for our clients. To get more information, please contact us and we will be happy to serve your research demands.

Reference

1. Monteagudo-Mera, A.; et al. Adhesion mechanisms mediated by probiotics and prebiotics and their potential impact on human health. Applied microbiology and biotechnology. 2019, 103(16): 6463-6472.