Oral Administration of the Probiotic Lactobacillus casei Ameliorates Gut Morphology and Physiology in Malnourished-Giardia intestinalis-Infected BALB/c Mice

Malnutrition reduces the host immunity and enhances the host susceptibility to various diseases. The present study describes the effect of oral administration of probiotic Lactobacillus casei to malnourished-Giardia-infected BALB/c mice with respect to surface alterations and brush border membrane enzyme activity of the small intestine. It was observed that probiotic feeding either prior to or simultaneously with Giardia infection to malnourished mice led to significantly enhanced activity of disaccharidases compared with malnourished and Giardia-infected mice. Scanning electron microscopy also revealed less mucosal damage in the villi of small intestine of probiotic-fed malnourished-Giardia-infected mice compared with completely damaged, mummified, or blunted villi of malnourished-Giardia-infected mice. The findings indicate that probiotics can be used as the prophylactic candidate in abrogating the gut and intestinal dissacharidases anamolies in malnourished hosts suffering from the intestinal diseases. 1. Introduction Malnutrition and infections are quiet complimentary and show combined effects that worsen the health and continue to be an important cause of morbidity and stunting of growth among children in developing countries [1, 2]. It is well documented that more than 90% of the world’s stunted children live in Africa and Asia, where rates of stunting are 40% and 36%, respectively, [3]. In India, 50% of child deaths are due to malnutrition while 46% of children under five years of age in rural India and 33% in urban India are underweight, with 16% being severely undernourished and 48% stunted. Malnourished individuals are more susceptible to various diseases such as typhoid, malaria, measles, giardiasis, and pneumonia [1, 4]. Giardia intestinalis is among the major health concerns observed in economically disadvantaged populations of developing countries. Other than in malnourished individuals, giardiasis is more common in young children as well as in homosexual, immunocompromised people with the highest prevalence of 20%–30% percent in developing countries [5, 6]. The parasite mainly inhabits the small intestine of humans and symptoms include flatulence, bloating, constipation, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, malabsorption, and growth retardation. Nutritional interventions are considered as an important approach to reduce the morbidity and mortality from gastrointestinal diseases in malnourished individuals [7]. Among various nutrient interventions, probiotics (particularly lactic acid bacteria) are generally regarded as safe for their inhibitory