Prebiotics enhance survival and prolong the retention period of specific probiotic inocula in an in vivo murine model

Aim: To identify novel prebiotics that could be used to maintain persistence of three representative probiotic strains in vivo. Methods and Results: Test mice were treated with prebiotics soybean oligosaccharide (SOS), fructooligosaccharide (FOS) or inulin, followed by probiotics Lactobacillus acidophilus LAFTI((R)) L10 (L10), Bifidobacterium lactis LAFTI((R)) B94 (B94) or Lactobacillus casei L26 LAFTI((R)) (L26). Faecal samples were then collected and analysed using selective medium and PCR analysis to determine the presence of the probiotic strains. In contrast to the control groups, in mice fed prebiotics, the survival and retention time of the test probiotics was increased extensively. SOS and FOS prolonged the retention period of L10 from 24 to 30 h. Of the three prebiotics, FOS gave the best result with B94, prolonging the retention period from 3 to >= 10 days. Of the three prebiotics, inulin gave the best result for L26, prolonging the retention period from 2 to >= 6 days. Conclusions: The prebiotics SOS, FOS and inulin significantly enhance survival and prolong the retention period of L10, B94 and L26 in vivo. Significance and Impact of the Study: Our results demonstrate the potential use of FOS, inulin and SOS as prebiotics in conjunction with the probiotic strains L10, B94 and L26 for new synbiotic products.