.*: Mixed 400mg of Pediococcus product with 4ml of MRS broth, mixed thoroughly for rehydration, added 0.05mg/ml, 0.1mg/ml, 0.2mg/ml of Metronidazole, followed by incubating at 37 ⁰C for 4 hours, and plated 100 ul at 10,000 dilution (or 100,000 dilutions for control) onto MRS plate. The colony formation unit (cfu) was obtained after incubating the plates overnight at 37 ⁰C.

Antibiotics have become an integral part of treating any disorder/disease in today’s treatment methodology. The increase in number of prescribed antibiotics has not only caused reason for worry in terms of super-bugs, but more importantly has brought to light the disruption of the micro biota of the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract. The effect of antibiotics on natural gut microorganisms is a force to reckon with; especially because of the side-effects it causes which in turn weaken the companion animal. Some of the common effects are nausea, fever, loss of appetite and diarrhea.

While it is inadvisable to completely reduce the use of antibiotics, the cause of concern is also great. It has been proven that Pediococcus acidilactici, used as a probiotic along with Saccharomyces boulardii can help in alleviating the effects of the antibiotics in due course of treatment. This may appear counterintuitive due to the fact that antibiotics tend to limit the growth of microorganisms. Metrondiazole is used primarily to treat diseases or infections caused by anaerobic bacteria and protozoa thereby not disrupting completely the survival of the Pediococcus based probiotics. Also, the initial inoculum of Pediococcus acidilactici is very high (1 billion CFU) enabling it to survive at different concentrations of Metronidazole even up to 0.2 mg/ml, as shown in the picture above. This characteristic allows for Pediococcus acidilactici based probiotics to be used in conjunction with most of the antibiotics of the nitroimidazole family.

Up-coming article: Survival of Pediococcus acidilactici in presence of different classes of antibiotics!

        Survivability of Mitomax SUPER^TM in Acidic Environment

          Mitomax SUPER^TM probiotics are innovative nutritional supplements containing Pediococcus acidilactici. Compare to the microorganisms that are commonly used in probiotics such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, Pediococcus is much more suited to survive in the acidic environment of the human stomach and is able to reach the gastrointestinal tract with maximal efficiency.

             As you can see from the picture above, Lactobacillus is not as viable as Pediococcus since it can only survive at a pH of 6.2. Pediococcus on the other hand is viable at all of the pHs shown (6.2, 2.0, and 1.5). Normally the pH of the stomach is around 1.5 - 2.0, making it crucial that the probiotics are able to survive in low pH levels.

            Once the probiotic capsule makes its way through the stomach, its next stop is the small intestine where it helps maintain the proper balance of microorganisms found there. Often when the balance is disrupted, problems with digestion and excretion may result.

            A beneficial probiotic must be able to survive in the acidic environment of the stomach in order to reach the lower part of the gastrointestinal tract. Without this ability, efficiency is decreased. Mitomax SUPER^TM is capable of surviving at a low pH, which makes it an effective probiotic!

Can probiotics really survive up to a minimum of 2 years at Room Temperature?

Figure 1. Stability study of P. acidilactici stored at 4° C refrigerator and room temperature. The results were collected from an average of three different plates from three separate experiments. [In the graph - Blue: Capsules stored at 4° C; Red: Capsules stored at Room Temperature]

All of Imagilin's probiotics, which are made of Pediococcus acidilactici, do not require rigid storage conditions, and are capable of maintaining their survivability for longer periods of time up to a  minimum of two years. 

Product survivability can be established by a study as shown above to determine the stability of Pediococcus acidilactici stored at 4° C and also at room temperature. P.acidilactici is widely applied to farm and companion animals as feed additives, and is recognized as Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) by the United States FDA. Unlike other lactic acid bacteria, P.acidilactici is less sensitive to oxygen exposure and heat. Typically, a visible size colony can be obtained by overnight culture at 37° C even under aerobic cultivation. 

Freeze-dried P.acidilactici cultures encapsulated in a gelatin capsule can maintain viability up to two years either when stored at room temperature or at 4° C (figure 1). P.acidilactici survived even after 1-week incubation at 65° C. All these make P.acidilactici  the choice of probiotics to use against infectious diseases without the hassles of storage and concerns about viability over extended periods of time.