Effect of some pharmaceutical excipients on the survival of probiotic vaginal lactobacilli.

GABRIELA ZÁRATE; MARÍA SILVINA JUÁREZ TOMÁS; MARÍA ELENA NADER-MACÍAS

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGY

The National Research Council of Canadá

Lugar: Otawa; Año: 2005 vol. 51 p. 483 - 489

0008-4166

Lactobacilli are the most predominant microorganisms of the vaginal bacterial microbiota and they play a major role in the maintenance of a healthy urogenital tract. In consequence, the interest in their potential use as probiotics has significantly increased during the last decade. In the present study we assessed the influence of different excipients on the survival of four probiotic vaginal lactobacilli incorporated into glycerinated gelatin ovules and stored at 5C during 60 days. Results showed that viability after storage was a strain-dependent characteristic but inclusion of ascorbic acid as excipient significantly increased survival in three of the four strains tested. Only for Lactobacillus salivarius CRL 1328 the better survival was observed into ovules containing skim milk. No significant differences in viability were observed between control ovules (without excipients) and those containing lactose or Tween 80 for any of the strains tested. L. acidophillus CRL 1259 and L. crispatus CRL 1266 were respectively the most resistant and sensitive strains to the storage with the different excipients. In conclusion, these results provide a basis for selecting excipients to improve the survival of lactobacilli into a probiotic product in an attempt to ensure the delivery of an adequate number of viable cells to the urogenital tract.