Intervention of probiotic L. reuteri fermented milk as an adjuvant to combat protein energy malnourishment induced gut disturbances in albino mice

Protein energy malnutrition (PEM) is a potentially catastrophic disorder. PEM is significant, nevertheless underestimated for infection susceptibility due to perturbances in gut flora and decreased protein, calorie source. Therefore, this study hypothesised that probiotic intervention may improve gut barrier function as an adjuvant in PEM condition. The present study revealed that, in PEM mice model, alteration in the body weight (>30% reduced), visceral organs' weight (spleen index) and histopathology (small intestine) were observed compared to well-nourished control. Moreover, the malnourished gut had disturbed gut microbiota which resulted in malabsorption of nutrients and leaky gut conditions. However, oral administration of Lactobacillus reuteri LR6, as probiotic fermented milk (PFM-@109 cfu/animal/day) in PEM showed a significant improvement in morphological parameters and had a modulating effect on the gut microenvironment. Therefore, the study suggests that probiotics as a dietary supplement might assist in reversing malnutrition, acting as an adjuvant to boost gut barrier function.