A research group led by Masafumi Noda, a specially appointed associate professor of the Hiroshima University Joint Research Course on Pre-illness and Preventive Medicine (Professor Masanori Sugiyama), found that administration of ethyl alcohol (ethanol) to mice induces alcohol poisoning. , It was discovered that the symptoms of alcohol intoxication can be avoided by ingesting live cells of the plant lactic acid bacterium "Lactobacillus plantarum SN13T" at the same time as alcohol.
A moderate amount of alcohol may moisturize one's life, but excessive drinking is a risk factor for lifestyle-related diseases such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes.Organ damage caused by alcohol affects not only the liver but also other digestive organs, heart, blood vessels, etc.In the pre-illness / preventive medicine joint research course, in collaboration with Chugoku Brewery Co., Ltd. (Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture), research on "probiotics" that is effective for improving pre-illness (health condition just before illness) and preventive medicine Is being promoted.
Excessive alcohol intake causes disruption of the intestinal flora (disbiosis).This time, when mice ingested ethanol were simultaneously ingested live bacteria of the plant lactic acid bacterium SN13T, which is extremely resistant to gastric acid and bile acid, the disbiosis of the intestinal flora caused by alcohol was improved and alcohol poisoning symptoms occurred. I found that I could recover.This effect occurred only in viable cells and was not observed at all when ingesting heat-treated dead cells.
In the future, the research group will further accelerate research on the use of probiotics to promote the maintenance of health of the intestinal flora.As one of them, it is currently working on the development of technology for long-term storage of live plant lactic acid bacteria at room temperature, while developing supplements and pharmaceuticals that contribute to disease treatment and prevention improvement by functional plant lactic acid bacteria.
