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The metabolic fate of doubly stable isotope labelled heat-killed Lactobacillus johnsonii in humans

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 62, pages 197–202 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

In this study, heat-killed Lactobacillus johnsonii (La1), doubly labelled with 13C and 15N (hk-dlLa1), was used to follow the metabolic fate after oral administration in humans.

Design:

Experimental study.

Setting:

University of Rostock, Children's Hospital, Research Laboratory.

Subjects:

Ten healthy adults aged 23–26 years.

Intervention:

The subjects received 74.6 mg/kg body weight hk-dlLa1 and 10 g α-D-raffinose together with breakfast. A sample of venous blood was taken after 2 h. Expired air samples were taken over 14 h, whereas urine and faeces were collected over a period of 48 h. 13C- and 15N-enrichments were measured by isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Hydrogen concentrations were measured by electrochemical detection.

Results:

The orocaecal transit time (OCTT) was reached after 3.4 h. After 2 h, 13C- and 15N-enrichment of fibrinogen amounted to 2 and 25 p.p.m. excess, respectively. The 13CO2-exhalation amounted to 9.2% of the ingested dose. The urinary excretion of 13C and 15N was 2.1 and 10.4% of the ingested dose, respectively, whereas the faecal excretion was 47.9 and 43.7% of the ingested dose, respectively.

Conclusions:

In comparison to OCTT of 3.4 h, both stable isotopes appear after 30 min in breath and urine, indicating that hk-dlLa1 is rapidly digested in the small bowel before reaching the caecum. This is confirmed by 13C-and 15N-enrichments of blood plasma fractions. The ingestion of hk-dlLa1 led to a 13C- and 15N-excretion of 59.2 and 54.1% of the ingested dose, respectively, of both stable isotopes.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Professor em. Willi Heine, MD, PhD; Dr Christa Mohr, Peter Leitzmann, MD; Hannelore Kusak and Renate Froh for their assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Laboratory ‘Gastroenterology and Nutrition’, Children's Hospital, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany

    K D Wutzke, D Berg & D Haffner

Authors
  1. K D Wutzke
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  2. D Berg
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  3. D Haffner
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to K D Wutzke.

Additional information

Guarantors: KD Wutzke and D Haffner.

Contributors: DB was principal investigator and doctoral candidate of KDW.

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Wutzke, K., Berg, D. & Haffner, D. The metabolic fate of doubly stable isotope labelled heat-killed Lactobacillus johnsonii in humans. Eur J Clin Nutr 62, 197–202 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602716

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