This Diploma thesis deals with preparation of probiotic cultures Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Bifidobacterium breve enriched with prebiotics meant for application in baby food products. Natural extracts from matcha, moringa, young beat, young barley, chlorella and spirulina were selected as prebiotics. The theoretical part is focused on probiotic bacteria, their biological effects and their effects on the child´s body. The experimental part deals with the cultivation of probiotic bacteria with plant extracts, monitoring their viability and stabilization in an encapsulated form. Mixtures of probiotic cells with prebiotics were encapsulated into alginate particles to increase stability. Some of the alginate particles were processed by freeze drying. Mixtures of probiotic cultures with plant extracts were subjected to model human digestion by the action of model digestive juices in unencapsulated, encapsulated and lyophilized form. Selected extracts of plant materials were characterized in terms of amount of total and reducing sugars, total phenolic substances, individual phenolic substances and antioxidant activity. Further, two baby commercial dietary supplements containing probiotics were selected, which were characterized in terms of cell number and viability. Probiotic products were also subjected to model digestion.

Although strong protective immune response is essential for preventing invasion by pathogens, equivalent responses against antigens originating from commensal bacteria can lead to chronic inflammatory diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Manipulating the mucosal immune responses with microbial antigens might be an excellent tool to IBD therapy or prevention. Our aim was to gain some insight into the regulation of the intestinal inflammation and to isolate bacterial immunomodulatory components that could be used in intestinal inflammation therapy and prevention. One particular mechanism of how healthy colon tissue regulates the inflammation during acute experimental colitis is through modulation of bioavailability of glucocorticoids (GCs) in gut mucosa. Here, we show that intestinal inflammation changes the local GC metabolism, which ultimately leads to decrease in inflammatory readiness of cells in the gut mucosa and in mesenteric lymph nodes. This pre-receptor regulation of GC function could represent an important homeostatic function of the gut mucosa. The actual triggers of intestinal inflammation in IBD seem to be either microbial dysbiosis or microbes with special "pathogenic" abilities, which both could be rectified by feeding with probiotics. Here, we report that oral feeding with live...

Although strong protective immune response is essential for preventing invasion by pathogens, equivalent responses against antigens originating from commensal bacteria can lead to chronic inflammatory diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Manipulating the mucosal immune responses with microbial antigens might be an excellent tool to IBD therapy or prevention. Our aim was to gain some insight into the regulation of the intestinal inflammation and to isolate bacterial immunomodulatory components that could be used in intestinal inflammation therapy and prevention. One particular mechanism of how healthy colon tissue regulates the inflammation during acute experimental colitis is through modulation of bioavailability of glucocorticoids (GCs) in gut mucosa. Here, we show that intestinal inflammation changes the local GC metabolism, which ultimately leads to decrease in inflammatory readiness of cells in the gut mucosa and in mesenteric lymph nodes. This pre-receptor regulation of GC function could represent an important homeostatic function of the gut mucosa. The actual triggers of intestinal inflammation in IBD seem to be either microbial dysbiosis or microbes with special "pathogenic" abilities, which both could be rectified by feeding with probiotics. Here, we report that oral feeding with live...