Impact of LKM512 yogurt on improvement of intestinal environment of the elderly

Improvement of the intestinal environment by administration of LKM512 yogurt was examined using polyamine, haptoglobin and mutagenicity as indexes which directly reflect the health condition of the host. The concentration of spermine in feces increased significantly by 3-fold (P < 0.05) at week 2 of administration of LKM512 yogurt compared with before administration, and that of putrescine, spermidine, and cadaverine also tended to increase with administration of LKM512 yogurt. The haptoglobin content in feces decreased significantly (P < 0.05) at week 2 of administration of LKM512 yogurt, and it showed a negative correlation with the polyamine content, indicating that acute intestinal inflammation was suppressed. Fecal mutagenicity was measured using fecal extract and fecal precipitate. Both preparations showed similar significant decreases (P < 0.05) by the administration of LKM512 yogurt, as well as a negative correlation with polyamine content. This result indicated that antimutagenicity due to administration of LKM512 yogurt was not based on binding of the mutagen to the bacterial cell wall. Many reports have suggested that polyamines increased by the administration of LKM512 yogurt led to inhibition of inflammation and antimutagenicity in the intestinal tract. (C) 2001 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.