Glycyrrhizin stimulates growth of Eubacterium sp. strain GLH, a human intestinal anaerobe

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Eubacterium sp. strain GLH was isolated from human feces and produced two kinds of beta-D-glucuronidase (EC 3.2.1.31), one new enzyme specific for glycyrrhizin (GL) and the other for phenyl beta-D-glucuronides. GL or p-nitrophenyl-mono-beta-D-glucuronide (pNPG) stimulated the production of GL or pNPG beta-glucuronidases and the growth of strain GLH in a basal medium lacking carbohydrate. D-Glucuronic acid also stimulated the growth of the bacterium, but glycyrrhetic acid did not. The increase of GL beta-glucuronidase paralleled the growth of the Eubacterium strain in pure culture. These results suggest that glucuronides such as GL and pNPG stimulate the growth of the Eubacterium strain in a nutrient-poor medium by providing D-glucuronic acid through the activity of beta-glucuronidases. The increase in GL beta-glucuronidase activity in the presence of GL was observed during the cultivation of human intestinal flora in a general anaerobic medium. During mixed cultivation of the Eubacterium strain with Streptococcus faecalis, which does not produce GL beta-glucuronidase, GL beta-glucuronidase was also increased by GL or pNPG, but not by glycyrrhetic acid and p-nitrophenol. It is suggested that GL stimulates the growth of strain GLH even in the mixed culture.