Probiotic lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus acidophilus HN017, Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 and Bifidobacterium lactis HN019) have no adverse effects on the health of mice

The safety of the probiotic lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillus acidophilus (HN017), Lactobacillus rhamnosus (HN001, DR20(TM)), and Bifidobacterium lac tis (HN019, DR10(TM)), was studied in BALB/c mice fed with different doses (5 x 10(7), 10(9) or 5 x 10(10) cfu/mouse/day) of the bacteria for 7 days. No abnormal clinical signs were observed in any of the groups during the pe riod of the experiment. There were no significant differences in feed intak e, water intake, or liveweight gain among mice fed the different probiotics , in comparison to a control group which was not fed with LAB. No bacteria were detected in the spleen of any animals. Although one mouse from each of the groups fed with Lb. rhamnosus HN001 or B. lactis HN019 had lactic acid bacteria detected in their kidney, DNA finger-printing analysis showed tha t the isolates were different from the test probiotic strains. Histological and haematological parameters also indicated that the lactic acid bacteria l strains did not adversely affect the health of the mice. (C) 2000 Elsevie r Science Ltd. All rights reserved.