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Prevention of chronic gastritis by fermented milks made with exopolysaccharide-producing Streptococcus thermophilus strains

C. Rodríguez^*, M. Medici^*, A. V. Rodríguez^*, F. Mozzi^* and G. Font de Valdez^*,,1

^* Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos (CERELA)-CONICET, Chacabuco 145, San Miguel de Tucumán, 4000 Tucumán, Argentina
Cátedra Microbiología Superior, Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Ayacucho 491, San Miguel de Tucumán, 4000 Tucumán, Argentina

¹ Corresponding author: gfont{at}cerela.org.ar

Acetyl-salicylic acid (ASA) is a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory/analgesic drug, which may cause gastritis or stomach ulcers if intensively employed. Exopolysaccharide (EPS)-producing lactic acid bacteria have been claimed to induce immunostimulatory/antiulcer effects in the host. This study investigated the potential preventive effect of fermented milks (FM) with EPS-producing Streptococcus thermophilus strains (CRL 1190 and CRL 804) on an in vivo model of chronic gastritis. Fermented milks (2 EPS⁺ and 1 EPS^–, separately) were fed to BALB/c mice for 7 d before inducing gastritis with ASA (400 mg/kg of body weight per day for 10 d; gastritis group, n = 5). Appropriate control groups (ASA administered but not given FM, n = 5; and ASA not administered but given FM) were included in this study. Gastric inflammatory activity was evaluated through the stomach’s histology and the number of IFN⁺ and IL-10⁺ cytokine-producing cells in the gastric mucosa. Only mice preventively treated with the EPS-producing Strep. thermophilus CRL 1190 FM and later administered ASA did not develop gastritis, showing a conserved gastric mucosa structure similar to those of healthy mice. A marked decrease of IFN⁺- and increase of IL-10⁺-producing cells compared with the gastritis group mice were observed. Purified EPS from Strep. thermophilus CRL 1190 resuspended in autoclaved milk was also effective for gastritis prevention. The EPS-protein interaction might be responsible for the observed gastroprotective effect; such interactions may be affected by industrial manufacturing conditions. The results indicate that the FM with Strep. thermophilus CRL 1190 or its EPS could be used in novel functional foods for preventing chronic gastritis.

Key Words: lactic acid bacteria • exopolysaccharide • gastritis • preventive effect