There is a critical unmet need to help tighten and maintain a healthy intestinal barrier and treat a leaky gut. Researchers have now found that a unique strain of probiotic bacteria, Bifidobacterium bifidum BB1, enhances intestinal barrier function and protects against penetration of bacteria and various harmful agents in the intestine. The findings, detailed in an article in The American Journal of Pathology can help advance the development of novel, targeted, naturally occurring probiotic therapy for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other inflammatory diseases, such as fatty liver disease or alcoholic liver disease, that are associated with a leaky or disordered intestinal barrier .
Lead investigator Thomas Y. Ma, MD, Ph.D.
, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey Medical Center, explains, "There is a critical need to develop nontoxic, patient-friendly, naturally occurring products such as probiotics for treatment of IBD and other inflammatory diseases associated with leaky gut. Our studies suggest that BB1 is such a precision probiotic strain; it has the unique biological activity to produce maximal intestinal barrier enhancement and also protect against the activation of inflammation." Patients with active IBD have elevated proinflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and IL1β.
TNF-α levels are markedly elevated in intestinal tissue, serum, and stool of patients with IBD and at elevated levels produce an increase in intestinal ti.