Recovery of Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS) from faeces of healthy Singapore adults after intake of fermented milk
(W.W.T. Khine et al, 2019)

To confirm the survival of Yakult’s unique probiotic – Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS) in human intestines, 21 healthy Singaporean young adults (18-25 years old) were recruited to consume a 100ml Yakult drink containing at least 10 billion LcS daily for 14 days, while maintaining their usual dietary habit and lifestyle. The whole study took 42 days.

During ingestion period (i.e. Day 7 to Day 14), LcS was detected at relatively high abundance in all the subject’s stools.

LcS did not alter the subjects’ base gut profile. However, there are observed changes in the relative abundance of Lactobacillus among gut microbiota after LcS consumption. This is supported with recovery and detection of LcS during the ingestion period, whereas neither LcS nor Lactobacillus is detected in most of the subjects in the post-ingestion period (i.e when intake stopped).

This result indicated that the LcS in Yakult is able to survive through the gastrointestinal tract of Singapore adults and reach the intestines alive. Only living bacteria in the intestines can perform more beneficial actions on the body. Yakult’s unique probiotic, LcS is scientifically proven to reach the intestines alive, thus helping to maintain a healthy digestive system.

Similar results were observed from studies done in other countries – Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, China and Philippines.

Beneficial Microbes: 10 (7)- Pages: 721 – 728
Published on 24 July 2019

Scan the QR code to access the full research article:

https://doi.org/10.3920/BM2018.0173