A three-stage continuous culture approach to study the impact of probiotics, prebiotics and fat intake on faecal microbiota relevant to an over 60Â s population

This study aimed to determine the impact of fat intake combined with Bacillus coagulans or trans-galactooligosaccharides (B-GOS) on bacterial composition and immune markers in an in vitro model. A three-stage continuous gut model system was used to simulate specific human colonic regions. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were exposed to cell free supernatants and subsequent levels of inflammatory cytokines were measured by flow cytometry. Although fat addition decreased bifidobacteria from 8.76 ± 0.12 to 8.63 ± 0.13 and from 8.83 ± 0.08 to 8.67 ± 0.07 in pre- and probiotic models respectively, the changes were not significant. Fat addition also did not impact on cytokines induced by LPS. Under high fat conditions, numbers of bifidobacteria significantly increased by B. coagulans or B-GOS. In addition, B. coagulans or B-GOS significantly suppressed TNF-α production induced by LPS. Under high fat conditions, both B. coagulans and B-GOS led to potentially beneficial effects by targeting specific bacterial groups and modulating immune markers.