Conclusion
Daily consumption of 3 x 125g servings of Activia® may significantly reduce total colonic transit time in young, healthy people
Mechanism of action studies on consumption of Activia on the host and gut microbiota
Mechanism of Action Studies on the Host
Does Activia® reduce colonic transit time in healthy people?
Bouvier et al., 2001[1]
Study type
Double-blind, placebo-controlled study
Intervention
Daily consumption of either 3 x125g servings of Activia® or a control group with heat-treated milk fermented by B lactis CNCM I-2494 (no viable strains)
Study end points
Radio-opaque marker to measure colonic (including sigmoid) transit times
Control
Daily consumption of heat treated milk fermented by B lactis CNCM I-2494
Population
72 healthy young people (21-24 y/o)
Length
11 days
Key Results
Reduction of total colonic transit time
significantly greater with Activia® compared with the control
Significant reduction in sigmoid transit times
with Activia® after consumption period vs baseline
Does Activia® reduce colonic transit time in healthy women?
Marteau et al., 2002[2]
Study type
Randomised, controlled, double-blind, multicentre, cross-over study
Intervention
1st group (n=17) consumed 3x 125g servings of Activia daily for 10 days, followed by 3 x 125g servings of yogurt without bifidobacteria daily for 10 days. 2nd group (n=15) consumed 3 x 125g servings of yogurt without bifidobacteria daily for 10 days ....
Study end points
Radio-opaque marker to measure colonic transit times; evaluation to measure faecal bile salts, pH, microbial mass and weight
Population
32 healthy young women (18-45 y/o)
Length
20 days with a 10 day interval period
Key Results
Significantly shorter colonic and sigmoid transit times
in the Activia® group compared with the control group, but no difference observed vs baseline
Fecal mass, pH, bacterial mass and bile acids
were not significantly modified
Conclusion
Daily consumption of 3 x 125g servings of Activia® may reduce colonic transit time in healthy young women
Does Activia® improve constipation in healthy women?
Yang et al., 2008[3]
Study type
Randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled, parallel group study
Intervention
Daily consumption of 100g servings of either Activia (n=67)
Study end points
Stool consistency evaluated with Bristol Stool Scale and self-evaluation to measure defecation condition
Control
Daily consumption of 100g acidified milk containing non-living bacteria (n=68)
Population
135 healthy Chinese women (25-65 y/o) with constipation
Length
2 weeks
Key Results
Significant increase in stool frequency
after 1 and 2 weeks of Activia® consumption
Significantly improved defecation conditions
and stool consistency in Activia® compared to the control
Conclusion
Daily consumption of 100g servings of Activia® over 2 weeks may improve stool frequency and consistency as well as defecation conditions in constipated women
Does Activia® modulate brain activity in healthy women?
Tillisch et al., 2013[4]
Study type
Randomised, double-blind, controlled study
Intervention
Daily consumption of either 2 x 125g servings of Activia® (n=14)
Study end points
Functional magnetic resonance imaging and standardised emotional faces attention task to measure brain activity
Control
Daily consumption of 2x 125g of non-fermented milk product with low lactose content (n=11) or no product at all (n=13)
Population
38 healthy women (18-50 y/o)
Length
4 weeks
Key Results
Conclusion
Daily consumption of 2 x125g servings of Activia® may modulate activity of specific brain regions in healthy women
Mechanism of Action Studies on the Gut Microbiota
Can B. lactis CNCM I-2494 survive passage through the gastrointestinal tract and what is the impact on the gut microbiota?
McNulty et al., 2011[5]
Study type
Controlled human study and “humanised” animal model
Intervention
Daily consumption of 2 x 113g servings of Activia® (in human group) and 1 x 2 gavages within 24 hours or 3 x 2 gavages within 24 hours over 3 weeks of the 5 bacterial strains contained in Activia® (in humanised mouse model)
Study end points
Human study: QPCR to measure quantification in Bifidobacterium lactis in faeces and various sequencing technologies to identify different bacteria Animal model: Sequencing technologies on bacteria from faeces (metagenomics) to identify...
Population
7 pairs of healthy female adult monozygotic twins and 10 germ-free mice colonised with 15 well-characterised bacteria from human gut
Length
7 weeks, with assessment 4 weeks prior to intervention and 4 weeks after intervention
Key Results
Conclusion
Activia® can survive passage through the gastrointestinal tract and can modulate the gene expression of some gut microbes
Does Activia® modulate the human gut microbiome?
Veiga et al., 2014[6]
Study type
Randomised, controlled, double-blind, parallel-group clinical trial
Intervention
Daily consumption of either 2 x125g servings of Activia® (n=13)
Study end points
Various sequencing techniques to measure and identify bacteria and in vitro colonic fermentation model to measure short chain fatty acids production
Control
a nonfermented dairy product with low lactose content (n=15)
Population
28 people with irritable bowel syndrome with predominant constipation (IBS-C)
Length
4 weeks
Key results
Consumption of Activia® for 4 weeks
stimulated 5 resident gut species, including B. dentium and 4 unknown species (the MetaGenomic Species (MGS))
Genes involved in butyrate production
were detected in 2 MGS stimulated by Activia®
Conclusion
Daily consumption of Activia® may modulate some bacterial species but no global shift in the gut microbiota was observed. Activia® may stimulate butyrate production
References
[1] Bouvier M et al. Effect of consumption of a milk fermented by the probiotic strain Bifidobacterium animalis DN-173 010 on colonic transit time in healthy humans. Bioscience Microflora. 2001; 20(2):43-48.
[2] Marteau P et al. Bifidobacterium animalis strain DN-173 010 shortens the colonic transit time in healthy women: a double-blind, randomized, controlled study. Alimentary Pharmacol & Therap, 2002;16:587-93.
[3] Yang Y et al. Effect of a fermented milk containing Bifidobacterium lactis DN-173 010 on Chinese constipated women. World Journal of Gastroenterology, 2008; 14(40): 6237-6243.
[4] Tillisch K et al. Consumption of Fermented Milk Product with Probiotic Modulates Brain Activity. Gastroenterology, 2013 Jun; 144(7):1394-1401
[5] McNulty NP et al. The impact of a consortium of fermented milk strains on the gut microbiome of gnotobiotic mice and monozygotic twins. Science Translation Medicine, 2011; 3(106):106ra106.
[6] Veiga P et al. Changes of the human gut microbiome induced by a fermented milk product. Scientific Reports. 2014 Sep 11;4:6328
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