The Effect of Digestive Enzymes on the Adhesion of Probiotic Bacteria In Vitro

Specific probiotics have several clinically proven health effects. Adhesion to the intestinal mucosa is considered important for many of these effects. In the current study, the effect of digestive enzymes and bile on the adhesion to intestinal mucus of 5 selected probiotics was studied. All of the digestive enzymes affected the adhesion of at least some of the tested strains. Bile was observed to reduce the adhesion of all strains tested. When the strains were sequentially exposed to 3 enzyme preparations and bile, the level of adhesion was reduced for all strains. The results suggest that the selection criterion “adhesion” for probiotics should be further refined.