Effects of the continuous intake of a milk drink containing Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota on abdominal symptoms, fecal microbiota, and metabolites in gastrectomized subjects

Abstract

Objective. This article is based on our previously reported results of irregular bowel movement and disturbances of the intestinal microbiota/environment in gastrectomized patients. A placebo-controlled, double-blind comparative study was carried out to evaluate the effects of a fermented milk beverage containing Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS) in such patients. The major evaluated factors of this article were “bowel movement” and “quality of life.” The secondary evaluated factors were “fecal microbiota” and “enteric environment.” Methods. Of the 190 gastrectomized subjects who participated in our previously reported defecation survey, 134 subjects judged as having abnormal defecation gave consent to participate in this study. These subjects continuously ingested the test beverage containing 40 billion LcS or placebo (one bottle per day, 4 weeks). Results. In the LcS-ingested group, among the 118 subjects who completed the tests, the assessments of the subjects were based on their division into groups based on their symptoms with our scoring system for constipation/diarrhea; although there was no significant ingestion effect in total, in the constipation group, LcS reduced the degree of constipation compared with that in the placebo group. In the diarrhea group, LcS ingestion improved diarrhea compared with that in the preingestion state. Fecal Staphylococcus level was decreased. Conclusions. The results suggest the possibility that the continuous consumption of LcS-fermented milk relieves irregular bowel movement in gastrectomized patients.

Key Words::

• bowel movement
• comparative study
• double-blind
• fecal microbiota
• gastrectomized subjects
• Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota
• placebo-controlled

Acknowledgments

We express our sincere gratitude to H Nagata for assisting with the statistical analysis. T Asahara, K Matsumoto, T Takada, O Chonan, K Nakamori, C Nonaka, and K Nomoto are staff members of Yakult Honsha Co, Ltd. The rest of the authors declare that they were free of conflicts of interest with Yakult Honsha Co, Ltd. All authors have declared: no support from any organization for the work; no financial relationships with any organizations that might have an interest in the work in the previous three years; and no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the study. Yakult Honsha Co, Ltd. provided the test diets and placebo, study design, Stool test, and prepared a portion of the manuscript, but had no role in the data collection, data interpretation, or decision to submit the article for publication. This study was supported by a grant from Yakult Honsha Co, Ltd. through ALPHA CLUB for research purposes without any condition or obligation.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.