Impact of an anthocyanin-rich blueberry extract upon Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium adhesion to Caco-2 and HT29-MTX cell lines

Introduction: Blueberries have been associated with several potentially beneficial properties including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity and, more recently, with the modulation of the intestinal microbiota. Gut microbiota is considered as essential for the normal functioning of the body and the maintenance of health, with the connection between gut microbiota composition of the intestinal microbiota and the overall health and wellbeing having been widely and systematically reported by the scientific community. Previous works have shown that an anthocyanin rich blueberry extract, when in contact with certain bifidobacteria, was capable of inhibiting the adhesion of potential pathogens to a mucin coated surface, which mimicked the intestinal epithelium. As such, this work aimed to assess whether the blueberry extract was capable of modulating the adhesion of different probiotic bacteria to Caco-2 and HT29-MTX cells, which are representative of the intestinal epithelium. The adhesion was analyzed without any extract (control), in the presence of frutooligossacharide (FOS) and the anthocyanin rich blueberry extract. Conclusions: Extract helped modulate probiotic adhesion; Bacterial adhesion was higher in the presence of extract; Higher relative adhesion values obtained for bifidobacteria.