RECOVERY OF LACTOBACILLUS-RHAMNOSUS GG FROM HUMAN COLONIC BIOPSIES

The colonization of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (ATCC 53103, henceforth L.GG) in five human colonoscopy patients was studied. The test subjec ts consumed whey drink fermented with the bacterium for 12 d before th e colonoscopy. The presence of L.GG was subsequently checked both in t he faecal samples and in the colonic biopsies obtained from various lo cations in the large intestine. In all patients L.GG was the dominant faecal lactic acid bacterium as a result of the administration. In fou r patients L.GG could also be recovered from the biopsies, while with one patient (suffering from ulcerative colitis diagnosed during the co lonoscopy) no L.GG was detected in the biopsy samples. The results sug gest that L.GG is able to adhere in vivo to the colon. Study of the fa ecal samples alone is apparently not sufficient for elucidation of the gastrointestinal ecology of probiotic bacteria.