Year: 2026
Type: editorial
Abstract: Recommendations P robiotics are live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.Strains of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria represent the most widely used probiotics, whose potential health benefits mainly include maintaining intestinal microbiota homeostasis, modulating immune responses and metabolic functions, ameliorating gastrointestinal dysfunction, and regulating the gut-brain axis.1,2 A critical prerequisite for these health benefits is the ability of probiotics to survive gastrointestinal transit.Bile acids, the primary constituents of bile, present a formidable barrier to probiotic survival.They are synthesized in hepatocytes, conjugated to glycine or taurine, and secreted into the duodenum, where they function as biological detergents to emulsify dietary lipids.In parallel, they exert potent antimicrobial effects by disrupting bacterial cell membranes, dissipating the proton motive force, and inflicting damage to intracellular bacterial proteins and nucleic acids.3 Accordingly, bile tolerance has long been recognized as a core selection criterion for probiotic microorganisms.4,5 Currently, the most widely used method for evaluating bile tolerance of candidate probiotic strains is to measure bacterial growth in broth supplemented with 0.3% (w/v) oxgall.[6][7][8] Its widespread use stems from two key rationales.First, oxgall has a bile acid profile comparable to that of human gallbladder bile, consisting primarily of six conjugated bile acids: glycocholic, glycodeoxycholic, glycochenodeoxycholic, taurocholic, taurodeoxycholic, and taurochenodeoxycholic acids.9,10 Second, this working concentration falls within the physiological bile acid range in the human small intestine.However, this method fails to account for the complex biotransformation of bile acids along the human intestinal tract; consequently, it employs nonphysiologically relevant bile acid substrates in the assays.
Author: Chun-Feng Guo
Institution: Northwest A&F University
Language: English
Subfield: Food Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Awards: G3256373616, G7921142371
OpenAlex ID: W7166644254