Growth of probiotic lactobacilli in the presence of oleic acid enhances subsequent survival in gastric juice

The effect of inclusion of various C18 fatty acids with 0-2 double bonds in either cis or trans configuration on Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG survival was analysed in simulated gastric juice at pH 2.5. The incorporation of Tween 80 (1 g l-1) in the growth media enhanced subsequent survival of stationary-phase cultures up to 1000-fold following 90 min acid exposure compared with controls grown without Tween 80. There was a significant (P<0.05) increase in bacterial content of oleic acid C18:1 (9c), up to 55-fold after growth of bacteria in MRS supplemented with Tween 80. The inclusion of various C18 fatty acids in the growth media revealed that only oleic and vaccenic acids C18:1 (11t) had protective effects on the survival of Lb. rhamnosus GG when exposed to the acidic environment. Comparative analysis with other lactobacilli indicated that all strains exhibited increased survival when grown in the presence of Tween 80. Further work with a neomycin-resistant mutant with 48% of the F0F1-ATPase activity of the parent indicated that the Tween 80 effect was independent of the complex. The mechanisms behind the effect of fatty acid protection were investigated and proton permeability assays showed that cultures grown in the presence of Tween 80 had higher extracellular pH than controls. Furthermore, there was a significant reduction of oleic acid and a significant increase in stearic acid (C18:0) (P<0.05) content of bacterial cells following exposure of Tween 80-supplemented cultures to simulated gastric juice. Overall, the data suggest that probiotic lactobacilli can use an exogenous oleic acid source to increase their acid survival and the underlying mechanism most likely involves the ability of increased membrane oleic acid to be reduced by H+ to stearic acid.