TITLE:
Understanding the Competitive and Cooperative Interactions between Probiotics and Autochthonous Intestinal Bacteria
AUTHORS:
Tyler Brown, Majid Bani-Yaghoub, Jose F. García-Mazcorro
KEYWORDS:
Bifidobacterium, C. coccoides, Lotka-Volterra Model, Probiotics, Stability Analysis
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.5 No.4,
April
30,
2017
ABSTRACT: The
present study combines the theory and the experimental data to predict the
changes on intestinal bacterial populations during ingestion of beneficial probiotic
bacteria. Our proposed model is a modified version of the Lotka-Volterra model, which takes the probiotic administration into account. Using the linear
stability analysis of the model, the conditions for coexistence of the
probiotics with other bacteria are established. Using the model fitted to the
data of C. coccoides species and Bifidobacterium species, the effects of
oral probiotics on autochthonous bacterial cultures is investigated. The
estimated parameter values suggest that C.
coccoides and Bifidobacterium facilitate each other during the probiotics administration, whereas they
compete in the absence of the probiotics administration. This may suggest the
beneficial effect of probiotic administration as it promotes the growth of C. coccoides species. The results also confirm prior studies
showing that once probiotic supplementation is discontinued, the probiotic
population and the promoting effect within the digestive tract will diminish.