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Lactobacillus reuteri

Lactobacillus reuteri, a newly designated species of Lactobacillus, is a symbiotic resident of the gastrointestinal (GI) tracts of humans, swine and other animals. Probiotics are a class of microorganisms that are defined as live microbial organisms that beneficially affect the animal and human hosts. The beneficial effects include improvement of the microbial balance of the intestinal microflora or by improving the properties of the indigenous microflora. Strains of a wide variety of Lactobacillus species, including Lactobacillus reuteri, have been used in probiotic formulations. Lactobacillus reuteri is one of the naturally occurring inhabitants of the gastrointestinal tract of animals, and is routinely found in the intestines, and occasionally in the birth channel, breast milk and mouth of healthy animals, including humans. Lactobacillus reuteri is the dominant heterofermentative Lactobacillus inhabiting the GI tract. It is a typical heterofermenter, converting sugars into acetic acid, ethanol, and CO2 in addition to lactic acid which is the major endproduct of homofermentative metabolism carried out by species such as Lactobacillus acidophilus. It utilizes the phosphoketolase pathway for conversion of glucose to endproducts. L. reuteri is a typical heterofermentative Lactobacillus species. Like other lactobacilli, L. reuteri produces acidic metabolic end-products (acetate and lactate) which have considerable antimicrobial activity. It has been recently discovered that metabolism of glycerol by L. reuteri can result in excretion of a metabolic intermediate, 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde. This compound has been shown to have antimicrobial activity against a variety of organisms to include Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, yeast, molds and protozoa.

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