New research shows that synthetic prebiotic boosts growth of cholesterol-reducing bacteria in the human microbiome

New research from the University of Reading, Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, and OptiBiotix Health has shown that a naturally synthesised prebiotic can selectively increase the growth of the cholesterol-reducing probiotic, Lactobacillus plantarum LP_LDL, as well as its enhancing its cholesterol-reduction activity.

This is a groundbreaking development in microbiome modulation, as it is the first time that research has demonstrated the formulation of a truly synergistic synthesised prebiotic that is capable of boosting the health benefit of a particular probiotic.

The research was presented by Dr Sofia Kolida at the International Scientific Conference on Probiotics and Prebiotics (IPC) 2017 in Budapest on 20 June.

The researchers used reverse enzyme technology to synthesise a prebiotic, LPGOS, to selectively enhance the growth and cholesterol-reducing activity of the LP_LDL probiotic.

LP_LDL was selected from more than 4000 other bacterial strains because of its ability to lower both cholesterol and blood pressure.

In a previous study, it was found to reduce LDL cholesterol by up to 13.9%, and blood pressure by 5.1%.

When combined with the LPGOS prebiotic, LP_LDL was found to increase the cholesterol lowering effect by more than threefold in a 24-hour period.

This discovery indicates that a new kind of healthcare supplement may be possible: a combination of a prebiotic and a probiotic which are both targeted at the same healthcare benefit.

This kind of supplement would be far more effective than existing probiotics at achieving particular health benefits. The researchers suggest that this new healthcare supplement would be called an "OptiBiotic."

Dr Sofia Kolida, who presented the research at IPC 2017, commented: “Using ß-galactosidases expressed by LP_LDL (LPGOS) we achieved the synthesis of GOS modulator that works in true synergy with the parent strain, not only increasing its population but also impacting on the biological activity the probiotic was selected for. This is the first time that true synergy has been demonstrated for a synbiotic.”