Lactobacillus strains and methods of selection
AssigneeNew England Medical Center Hospitals, Inc.
InventorsSherwood L. Gorbach, Barry R. Goldin
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Abstract
A biologically pure culture of a strain of bacteria of a Lactobacillus species in which the bacteria have avid adherence to intestinal cells, are able to survive at low pH, and produce large amounts of lactic acid.
Claims6
A biologically pure culture of bacteria of a Lactobacillus species, said bacteria being characterized in that they have the same ability to attach mucosal cells of the human intestinal tract as that exhibited by the Lactobacillus bacteria deposited in the American Type Culture Collection and given ATCC Accession No. 53103.
A method of isolating a therapeutically useful strain of a Lactobacillus species, said method comprising carrying out the following screening steps on a sample containing a multiplicity of bacterial strains:
- (a) isolating from said sample bacteria of a Lactobacillus species,
- (b) coincubating bacteria of said sample with gastrointestinal cells, and
- (c) selecting bacteria capable of adhering to said cells at a rate of an average of at least 50 bacterial cells per gastrointestinal cell in five minutes of coincubation.
- Lactobacillus species bacteria capable of so adhering comprising said therapeutically useful strain.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.