Growth of Bifidobacterium species is inhibited by free fatty acids and bile salts but not by glycerides

Sergio Perez-Burillo; Sumudu Rajakaruna; Oleg Paliy

doi:10.3934/microbiol.2022005

Growth of Bifidobacterium species is inhibited by free fatty acids and bile salts but not by glycerides

AIMS Microbiol. 2022 Mar 10;8(1):53-60. doi: 10.3934/microbiol.2022005. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Sergio Perez-Burillo^{1

2}, Sumudu Rajakaruna¹, Oleg Paliy¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, USA.
² Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Centro de Investigación Biomédica (CIBM), Granada, Universidad de Granada, Spain.

Abstract

High-fat diets have been associated with lower gut and fecal abundances of genus Bifidobacterium. Here, we investigated whether commonly consumed dietary free fatty acids have any detrimental effect on the growth of B. adolescentis, B. bifidum, and B. longum. We found that the presence of free fatty acids in the medium inhibits the growth of Bifidobacterium species to a varying degree, with capric (C10:0), oleic (C18:1), and linoleic (C18:2) acids displaying the largest effect. In comparison, free fatty acids did not affect the growth of Escherichia coli. When fats were added as a mixture of mono- and diacylglycerols, the inhibitory effect on Bifidobacterium growth was abolished.

Keywords: Bifidobacterium; bile salts; fats; fatty acids; glycerides.