The potential of biodetoxification activity as a probiotic property of Lactobacillus reuteri

Previous work on the metabolism of Lactobacillus reuteri ATCC 55730 anticipated a variability in the use of organic electron acceptors as a means to relieve metabolic redox problems. Therefore, investigations focusing on this unique metabolism of L. reuteri may reveal a basis for new probiotic properties. For instance, L. reuteri may use reactive aldehydes and ketones as electron acceptors to balance their redox metabolism, which opens the possibility to exploit this bacterium for in vivo bioreduction of deleterious compounds in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Herein we demonstrate that L. reuteri ATCC 55730 cultures on glucose are able to use furfural (1 g/L), and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) (0.5 g/L), as electron acceptors. The former enhances the growth rate by about 25% and biomass yield by 15%, whereas the latter is inhibitory. Furfural is stoichiometrically reduced to furfuryl alcohol by the culture. The conversion of furfural had no effect on the flux distribution between the simultaneously operating phosphoketolase and Embden–Meyerhof pathways, but initiated a flux to acetate production. In addition to furfural and HMF, cellular extracts showed potential to reoxidize NADH and/or NADPH with acrolein, crotonaldehyde, and diacetyl, indicating that conversion reactions take place intracellularly, however, utilization mechanisms for the latter compounds may not be present in this strain. The strain did not reduce other GIT-related reactive compounds, including acrylamide, glyoxal, and furan.