Adhesion Properties
During investigation of adhesive properties of lactic acid bacteria it was found that 11 strains adhered to buccal intestinal and vaginal epithelium of humans. L. plantarum 299v expressed high adhesive activity to buccal epithelium. Monosaccharide composition of glycocalix of 6 strains of lactic acid bacteria was studied to understand the adhesion mechanism. It was shown that surface structures of this microorganism interact with plant lectins, specific to certain monosaccharides.
Two Lactobacillus plantarum strains of human intestinal origin, strains 299 and 299v, have proved to be efficient colonizers of the human intestine under experimental conditions. These strains and 17 other L. plantarum strains were tested for the ability to adhere to cells of the human colon called HT-29. L. plantarum 299 and 299v and nine other L. plantarum strains, including all six strains that belong to the same genetic subgroup as L. plantarum 299 and 299v, adhered to HT-29 cells in a manner that could be inhibited by methyl-alpha-D-mannoside. L. plantarum 299 and 299v adhered to freshly isolated human colonic and ileal enterocytes, but the binding was not significantly inhibited by methyl-alpha-D-mannoside. (In this respect, although all L.Plantarum strains in this study showed adherence to the lining of the intestine, only strains 299 and 299v resistant to inhibition of this adhesion and are therefore more effective). Thus, a mannose-specific adhesion has been identified in L. plantarum and this adhesion could be involved in the ability to colonize the intestine.
This study investigated the adhesion properties of 19 different strains of lactobacilli. Lp299v was one of 5 strains isolated on biopsies of the mucosa of the jejunum and the rectum one day after the end of treatment and even on the 11th day after the end of treatment. Among these five strains, Lp299v was one of the most frequently occurring strains in the biopsies.
Food Source
Lactobacillus plantarum can be found in most naturally fermented foods including cheese, yoghurt and sauerkraut.