A team of scientists from the Laboratorios Ordesa Research Center, located at the Barcelona Science Park, have been able to obtain and characterize a new probiotic strain, Bifidobacterium longum subsp infantis CECT7210, capable of inhibiting rotavirus infection. The results of the study, led by ICREA researcher Dr. Jose Antonio Moreno, with the collaboration from researchers from the Valencia University Hospital, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine of Valencia and the biotech Biopolis, have been published in the journal of Applied and Environmental Microbiology (doi:10.1128/AEM.05548-11).The work has been selected as an outstanding lecture and "Poster of Distinction" of the meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (ESPGHAN), to be held in Stockholm next April. The study will also be presented at the 4th World Congress of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (WCPGHAN), which will be held in November in Taipei.

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Through in vivo studies in a BALB/c mice model, researchers have shown that the Bifidobacterium longum subsp infantis CECT7210 isolated from infants fed exclusively with breast milk, can reduce the incidence of rotavirus infection. In vitro studies in MA-104 (epithelial cell line of rhesus monkey kidney) and HT-29 (epithelial cell line of human colon carcinoma) cell lines have revealed that this strain is able to inhibit up to 36.05% of rotavirus replication capacity and ensure a protection of 48.5% in the cells against rotavirus infection.

The new strain -patented by Laboratorios Ordesa – has been assessed according to international guidelines established by the WHO, FAO and EFSA for assessment of probiotics. The assessment tests include, in addition to the evidence of activity against rotavirus, other tests to assess various probiotic properties of the strain, including: resistance tests through the gastrointestinal tract, resistance to bile salts, a low pH and adhesion to mucus, and food safety tests, such as the absence of antibiotic resistance, absence of unwanted metabolic activity and acute intake in immunodepressed mice. The results obtained by Bifidobacterium longum subsp infantis CECT7210 in all the tests undertaken have been excellent.

“This research by Ordesa Laboratories is pioneer. Although some previous studies had already suggested the antirotaviral effect of some probiotics, until now there was no scientific evidence of the specific molecular mechanism by which this probiotic was afforded with this antirotavirus efficiency. The novelty of this work lies in the fact that it reveals for the first time the mechanism by which the bacterium is able to inhibit the activity of the rotavirus”, said Montserrat Rivero, general scientific director of Grupo Ordesa and coordinator of the study.

“Within probiotics, the Bifidobacterium genus raises great interest because bacteria belonging to this genus are the first colonizers of the gastrointestinal tract of newborns and, numerically, are the dominant bacteria in the intestines of infants fed exclusively with breast milk. The colonization of the gut by these microorganisms plays an important role in metabolism, resistance to infection by pathogens, maturation of the gastrointestinal tract and immune system in the neonate. The findings of this study provide clear evidence about the molecular mechanisms used by probiotics to act in the benefit of our gastrointestinal health, and are of great relevance for the development of new formulations of products for infant feeding, and nutritional supplements, as well as other types of functional foods that protect children from rotavirus infections “, says José A. Moreno.

The rotavirus is directly responsible for 25% of diarrheal diseases and acute gastroenteritis in children under 5 years, and is a major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It is estimated that over 500,000 children worldwide die every year due to rotavirus infection, and 10,000 of them in Europe (http://www.euro.who.int/en/what-we-do/health-topics/communicable-diseases/rotavirus). According to the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP), rotavirus infection causes about 220,000 paediatric hospitalizations in Europe and 5,000 in our country. In Spain, an estimated 10% of emergency paediatric consultations are due to rotavirus gastroenteritis.

Reference paper: Novel probiotic Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis CECT 7210 strain active against rotavirus infections. Moreno. Muñoz JA, Chenoll E, Casinos B, Bataller E, Ramón D, Genovés S, Montava R, Ribes JM, Buesa J, Fàbrega J, Rivero M. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2011 Dec;77(24):8775-83. DOI: 10.1128/AEM.05548-11.