Safety and mutagenicity evaluation of Vigiis 101 powder made from Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei NTU 101

- Vigiis 101 powder was non-mutagenic in the Ames assay.
- The powder had no activity in an in vitro chromosome aberration assay.
- Vigiis 101 was non-genotoxic in an in vivo mouse micronucleus assay.
- The NOAEL for Vigiis 101 in a 28-day rat study was at least 5 g/kg bw/day.

The aim of the present work was to assess the genotoxic activity and the potential for toxicity upon repeated dosing of “Vigiis 101” powder, a probiotic consisting of dried bacteria Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei NTU 101. Results of the Ames test in Salmonella typhimurium strains TA1537, TA98, TA100, TA102, and TA1535 showed that Vigiis 101 (⩽5 mg per plate) was not mutagenic. We used experiments on ICR mice to evaluate the genotoxicity of Vigiis 101. Compared to the control, high-dose Vigiis 101 administration (16.72 g per kg of body weight) did not cause significant changes either in the number of reticulocytes or in the percentage (occurrence) of micronucleated reticulocytes. A mammalian chromosomal aberration test showed that the number of Chinese hamster ovary cells with abnormal chromosomes was <4% after Vigiis 101 treatment (maximal concentration was 5 mg/ml). A 28-day oral toxicity assay in Wistar rats was performed to assess the no-observed-adverse-effect level of Vigiis 101. Compared to the control, high-dose Vigiis 101 administration (5000 mg/kg/day) had no effects on mortality and body weight and did not cause toxicopathological lesions. Taken together, these results show that Vigiis 101 has no significant mutagenic or toxic effects.