Sub-lethal effect of ultraviolet radiation on the growth, intestinal adherence ability and cholesterol removal potentials of parent cells and subsequent sub-culturing of Lactobacillus acidophilus BT 1088 under conditions that mimic the human gastrointestinal tract

• Published in: Annals of microbiology Vol. 63; no. 2; pp. 615 - 622
• Main Authors: Lye, Huey-Shi, Khoo, Boon-Yin, Karim, Abdul Alias, Rusul, Gulam, Liong, Min-Tze
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.06.2013
• Subjects: Applied Microbiology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; cell growth; cell membranes; cells; cholesterol; confidence interval; fermentation; gastrointestinal system; humans; Lactobacillus acidophilus; Life Sciences; Medical Microbiology; Microbial Ecology; Microbial Genetics and Genomics; Microbiology; Mycology; Original Article; phospholipids; sublethal effects; tail; ultraviolet radiation; Incorporation; Sub-culturing; Ultraviolet; Lactobacilli; Cholesterol
• ISSN: 1590-4261; 1869-2044
• DOI: 10.1007/s13213-012-0511-y

The aim of this study was to evaluate the sub-lethal effect of ultraviolet radiation (UV) on the cell growth, intestinal adherence ability and cholesterol removal potential of parent cells and the possible inheritance of such effects on subsequent sub-cultures of Lactobacillus acidophilus BT 1088 cells under conditions that mimic the human gastrointestinal tract. We found that UV decreased (P < 0.05) growth of the parent cells immediately upon treatment (0 h), although an increase (P < 0.05) in growth was observed at 8–24 h of fermentation compared to that of the control. The intestinal adherence ability of the parent cells decreased significantly by 15.62 % (P < 0.05) compared to that of the control. Nevertheless, UV led to increased (>26.22 %; P < 0.05) cholesterol removal from the parent cells, accompanied by an increased incorporation of cholesterol into the cellular membrane and an increased ratio of membrane cholesterol:phospholipids (C:P; P < 0.05; 95 % confidence interval 8.71–121.95 %) in parent cells, compared to that of the control. Incorporated cholesterol was found in the interface of apolar and polar regions, polar heads and also apolar tails of phospholipids in the cellular membrane bilayer. However, such traits were not inherited by the treated cells in subsequent sub-cultures (first, second and third sub-culture). Our data suggest that UV could be a potential physical treatment to increase the cholesterol removal ability of parent cells without inducing permanent damage to the treated cells. UV treatment did not affect the intestinal adherence functionality of the treated cells in subsequent sub-cultures.