Effect of Lactobacillus isolates on the adhesion of pathogens to chicken intestinal mucus in vitro.
OBJECTIVE
The aims of this study were to investigate in vitro the effects of Lactobacillus isolates from a chicken on adhesion of pathogenic Salmonella and Escherichia coli to chicken intestinal mucus obtained from different intestinal regions.


RESULTS
Bacteria were labelled by using methyl-1,2-[(3)H]-thymidine. The bacterial adhesion was assessed by measuring the radioactivity of bacteria adhered to the mucus. The results showed that the abilities of Lactobacillus spp. to bind to the same intestinal mucus were higher than those of pathogenic Salmonella and E. coli. Pretreatment of intestinal mucus with Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus acidophilus, alone or in combination, reduced the adhesion of the tested pathogens, but the reductive extent of pathogenic adhesion by Lactobacillus spp. in combination was relatively high.


CONCLUSIONS
The tested bacteria had different adhesions to mucus glycoproteins isolated from different intestinal regions of chicken. Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lact. fermentum in combination revealed a better ability to inhibit attachments of Salmonella and E. coli to chicken intestinal mucus than Lactobacillus sp. alone.


CONCLUSIONS
A mixture of intestinal Lactobacillus spp. from a chicken may play a protective role in excluding pathogenic Salmonella and E. coli from the intestine of chicken.
Ma
Y-L
YL
College of Life Science, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China. yulongma@sohu.com
Guo
T
T
Xu
Z-R
ZR
You
P
P
Ma
J-F
JF
D000818:Animals; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D002645:Chickens / Q000382:microbiology*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology*; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000502:physiology*; D012475:Salmonella / Q000472:pathogenicity*