• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.445-457
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• 2020

Prebiotics are defined as "Nondigestible food ingredients that beneficially affect the host by selectively stimulating the growth and activity of bacteria in the intestine" and as defined improve host health. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of bifidobacteria (Bifidobacterium lactis BB12 and Bifidobacterium longum BB536) growth enhancer (BE0623) supplement as a prebiotic. The addition of BE0623, a growth promoting material for bifidobacteria, significantly increased bifidobacteria viable cells counts in fermented milk by about 45 to 75 times compared to the non-added control group. In addition, microscopic observation showed a significant effect on proliferation of bifidobacteria in fermented milk with added BE0623. The viable cell counts in bifidobacteria also increased roughly 102-fold compared to the control group (non-added BE0623) and was higher than that of commercial growth promoters. Each fraction obtained though the purification of BE0623 influenced the increase of bifidobacteria growth. Culturing bifidobacteria with a combination of fractions of BE0623 had a synergistic effect compared to culturing bifidobacteria with each fraction individually. When any of the fractions were not added, the effect of the growth enhancer on bifidobacteria was reduced. These results indicate that all fractions contain substances that promote the growth of bifidobacteria. Therefore, BE0623 is considered to be available as a growth promoting material for bifidobacterium.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.575-587
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• 2021

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of supplementation with a Bifidobacteria enhanced yogurt (BE0623 yogurt), which includes Bifidobacterium lactis BB12, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Streptococcus thermophilus, and Bifidobacterium lactis, in the management of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) using animal models and clinical trials. In a rat study, a loperamide-treated group (LOP) showed reduced water content in fecal pellets but showed an increased number of fecal pellets in the distal colon. In addition, the BE0623 yogurt (L-BE0623Y) group had the fewest fecal pellets in the distal colon. Regarding the serum lipid parameters, the LOP group had a high-density lipoprotein (HDL)/total cholesterol ratio that was 43% lower than that of a normal water group (NOR), but the outcome for the L-BE0623Y group was 27% lower than the NOR group. In a human study, 116 adults with IBS were sampled as subjects and fed 300 mL of yogurt per day for an eight week period. There was an IBS improvement in the L-BE0623Y and commercial yogurt (L-CY) groups, though flatulence, stool consistency and frequency of defecation outcomes were also noted. Specifically, the L-BE0623Y treatment group showed significant effects with regard to defecation duration and urgency after the consumption of the yogurt used in this study. These results suggest that the Bifidobacteria-enhanced yogurt has superior effects with regard to relieving loperamide-induced constipation in rats and that regular consumption of L-BE0623Y is effective to improve IBS in humans.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.482-499
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• 2017

Allergic diseases have increased over the past several decade worldwide including developing countries. Allergic inflammatory responses are caused by Th (T helper)2 immune responses, triggered by allergen ingestion by antigen presenting cells such as dendritic cells (DCs). Intestinal microorganisms control the metabolism and physiological functions of the host, contribute to early immune system maturation during the early life, and homeostasis and epithelial integrity during life. Bifidobacteria have strain-specific immunostimulatory properties in the Th1/Th2 balance, inhibit TSLP (thymic stromal lymphopoietin) and IgE expression, and promote Flg (Filaggrin) and FoxP3 (Treg) expression to alleviate allergies. In addition, unmethylated CpG motif ODN (oligodeoxynucleotides) is recognized by TLR (toll-like receptors)9 of B cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) to induce innate and adaptive immune responses, while the butyrate produced by Clostridium butyricum activates the GPR (G-protein coupled receptors)109a signaling pathway to induce the expression of anti-inflammatory gene of pDCs, and directly stimulates the proliferation of thymically derived regulatory T (tTreg) cells through the activation of GPR43 or inhibits the activity of HADC (histone deacetylase) to differentiate naive $CD4^+$ T cells into pTreg cells through the histone H3 acetylation of Foxp3 gene intronic enhancer.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.24-30
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• 2012

This study investigated the effects of bifidus enhancer yogurt (BEY) on loperamide-induced constipation in rats. The bifidus enhancer, made of rice-DDGS (Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles), improved proliferation of bifidobacteria (BB-12). Male SD rats were induced with constipation using loperamide and were then used to test the effectiveness of BEY in relieving constipation. The rats were divided into four groups: normal group (NOR), loperamide-treated group (LOP), bifidus enhancer yogurt and loperamide-treated group (L-BEY), and commercial yogurt and loperamide-treated group (L-CY). Treatment of loperamide reduced the wet weight and water content of fecal pellets, but increased the number of fecal pellets in the distal colon. Meanwhile, the fecal weight of the L-BEY group showed an increase of 43% and 23% versus the LOP and L-CY group, respectively. Also, the fecal water content in the L-BEY group was 14.5% and 6.8% higher than that in the LOP and L-CY group, respectively. In addition, the L-BEY group had the fewest fecal pellets in the distal colon. In the serum lipid parameters, the LOP group had a HDL/total cholesterol ratio that was 43% lower than the NOR group, but the L-BEY group had 27% lower than NOR group. These results suggest that bifidus enhancer yogurt has superior effects when it comes to relieving loperamide-induced constipation in rats.