Effect of Lactobacillus brevis SBC8803 on Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase in Japanese Habitual Drinkers: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study

Yoshihisa Wakita, Hajime Kanda, Chikako Shimizu, Yasukazu Nakakita, Hirotaka Kaneda, Shuichi Segawa, Moeko Ozaki, Tatsuro Shigyo, Takaaki Ohtake, Mikihiro Fujiya, Yutaka Kohgo

Corporate Planning Department, Sapporo Holdings Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.
Division of Gastroenterology and Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Asahikawa Medi- cal University, Hokkaido, Japan.
Frontier Laboratories of Value Creation, Sapporo Breweries Ltd., Shizuoka, Japan.

DOI: 10.4236/fns.2012.35092                

Abstract

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in Japanese habitual drinkers was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Lactobacillus brevis SBC8803 to alleviate adverse effect of alcohol. Subjects who drank habitually and had moderately higher levels of gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) (50 - 100 IU/L) were enrolled. The levels of transaminases in these subjects were almost within normal levels (aspartate transaminase (AST) <30 IU/L and alanine transaminase (ALT) <40 IU/L). Either the capsules containing placebo (n = 23) or 130 mg (4.0 × 1010 colony-forming units) of live L. brevis SBC8803 (n = 22) per day were administered for the continuous eight weeks (56 days). During the period, the subjects both in test group and placebo groups have kept each drinking behavior as usual. Regarding lipid metabolism, triacylglycerol (TG) levels in the male test group significantly decreased at week 4 as compared with week 0. Biomarkers of hepatocytes-damage; AST and ALT levels showed no significant differences between the pla- cebo and test groups at both weeks 4 and 8. Oxidative stress marker; GGT at weeks 4 was significantly lower in the test group than that in the placebo group (p = 0.017), but not at weeks 8. However, taking a reduced rate of GGT at weeks 8 comparing with that at week 0, that in the test group showed larger value comparing with that in the placebo group. These data about TG and GGT suggest that, although efficacy of L. brevis SBC8803 is limited in this study, intake of the probiotic may alleviate alcoholic influence in lipid metabolism and oxidative stress.

Keywords

Lactobacillus brevis; Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase; Alcoholic Related Disorder; Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Study

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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