S-Adenosyl-L-methionine protects the probiotic yeast, Saccharomyces boulardii, from acid-induced cell death.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Saccharomyces boulardii is a probiotic yeast routinely used to prevent and to treat gastrointestinal disorders, including the antibiotic-associated diarrhea caused by Clostridium difficile infections. However, only 1-3% of the yeast administered orally is recovered alive in the feces suggesting that this yeast is unable to survive the acidic environment of the gastrointestinal tract.

Results

We provide evidence that suggests that S. boulardii undergoes programmed cell death (PCD) in acidic environments, which is accompanied by the generation of reactive oxygen species and the appearance of caspase-like activity. To better understand the mechanism of cell death at the molecular level, we generated microarray gene expression profiles of S. boulardii cells cultured i

SUBMITTER: Cascio V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3639806 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature