DDS-1 Survives GI Tract

LINCOLN, Neb.An Lactobacillus acidophilus probiotic strain (as DDS-1, supplied by Nebraska Cultures) survived through the entire digestive tract in a recent study, suggesting it can provide health benefits throughout the gastrointestinal (GI) system when taken on a regular basis (Advances in Microbiology; 2012 (2)3:399-409. DOI: 10.4236/aim.2012.23051).

While there is clinical evidence that supports the health benefits of probiotics, this is the first study that shows the DDS-1 strain reaches the colon and persists long enough to do provide health benefits. It was important to do this study because we know that there are strains of bacteria that survive, but we dont know if the strain persists long enough to benefit the host," said Robert W. Hutkins, one of the study's authors.

During three individual eight-week periods, separated by three to four weeks, the study compared the DDS-1 strain to two strains that are known to colonize successfully in the gut, but are not known to be probiotic in nature: one that has an ancient history with humans (Lactobacillus reuteri PTA-6475), and one that successfully colonized a healthy adult human (Lactobacillus mucosae FSL-04).

Colonization ability was tested in the single blind, crossover study with 12 human subjects. The study revealed L. reuteri and L. mucosae reached higher population levels in fecal samples and were recovered more frequently from subjects compared to DDS-1, but DDS-1 was still present throughout the GI tract. All three strains became undetectable eight days after consumption, showing consistent supplementation is important.

We wanted to prove the strength of our strain and brand through human clinical trials since many probiotic studies have been done in labs in Petri dishes," said Michael Shahani, chief operations officer for Nebraska Cultures.  Our intention is to be able to guarantee that our DDS-1 strain gets where it needs to go for users to reap the largest benefits of using probiotics, and this study allows us to do just that."

The University of Nebraska's Khem Shahani, Ph.D., began his research on Lactobacillus acidophilus at the University of Nebraska in the late 1950s. There, he discovered and named DDS-1, which showed superior growth, stability and nutritional viability.

Nebraska Cultures recently released ProDURA, a resilient and proven strain of Bacillus coagulans available only from Nebraska Cultures.

Learn more about working with probiotics in the INSIDER article "Formulating Probiotic Foods and Supplements" by Michael Shahani, director of operations, Nebraska Cultures.