Abstract:
Non-digestible oligosaccharides have prebiotic property and anti-adherence capability against pathogens in the GIT. In this study, pectin oligosaccharide (POS) from Citrus maxima (pomelo) was tested for the ability to reduce adherence of staphylococci bacteria in the mice distal colon. Staphylococcus epidermidis was introduced to the mice in order to simulate gastrointestinal infection while Staphylococcus aureus was part of the natural microbiota. POS was supplemented a week prior to feeding of gelatin containing 5 x 108 S. epidermidis CFU/kg body weight. Evaluation of bacterial adherence was done by CFU quantification through serial dilution and spread plating of mice fecal pellets and distal colon in MSA plates. S. aureus and S. epidermidies colonies that grew on MSA plates were counted together. Histopathological examinations were done to further evaluate the effect of POS in the colon. CFU quantification results gave insignificant difference but the trends indicate that POS increased adherence of staphylococci bacteria at higher concentrations (2500 mg/kg body weight and 5000mg/kg body weight) while decreased it in lower concentration (140mg/kg body weight). Significant differences were also observed in the goblet cell depletion and epithelial integrity scores, supporting the results from the CFU quantification. However, no significant statistical difference was found in the lymphoid hyperplasia scores of the treatment groups. Based from the results and statistical analyses, POS was not able to reduce adherence of staphylococci bacteria in the colon of mice. However, the weak anti-adherence property exhibited by 140mg POS/kg body weight implies that POS can elicit inhibitory action against staphylococci adhesion but within a certain range of concentration.
