CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Acetyl-salicylic acid (ASA) is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory/analgesic drug, which may cause gastritis or stomach ulcers if intensively employed. Exopolysaccharide (EPS)-producing lactic acid bacteria have been claimed to induce immunostimulatory/anti-ulcer effects in the host. This study investigated the potential preventive effect of fermented milks with EPS-producing Streptococcus thermophilus strains (CRL 1190 and CRL 804) on an in vivo model of chronic gastritis. BALB/c mice were fed with fermented milks (two EPS+ and one EPS-, separately) during 7 days before inducing gastritis with ASA (400 mg/Kg body-weigh/day for 10 days; study group named= gastritis group; n= 5). Appropriate control groups of gastritis but not treated with fermented milks (n= 5) and of non-ASA administered but given fermented milks were included in this study. The gastric inflammatory activity was evaluated through the stomachs histology and the number of INFg+ and IL-10+ cytokine-producing cells in the gastric mucosa. Only mice preventively treated with the EPS-producing Strep. thermophilus CRL1190 fermented milk and later administered with ASA, did not develop gastritis showing a conserved gastric mucosa structure similar to those of healthy animals. A marked decrease of INFg+- and increase of IL-10+-producing cells as compared to the gastritis group mice were observed. The purified EPS from Strep. thermophilus CRL1190 resuspended in autoclaved milk was also effective on gastritis prevention. The EPS-protein interaction might be responsible for the observed gastro-protective effect; such interactions may be affected by industrial manufacturing conditions. The results indicate that the fermented milk with Strep. thermophilus CRL 1190 and/or its EPS could be used in novel functional foods for preventing chronic gastritis.

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