EFFECTS OF FERMENTED WHEY IN TREATING BACILLARY DYSENTERY AND ON THE GASTROINTESTINAL FLORA OF APPARENTLY HEALTHY ALBINO RATS

Abstract

The effects of fermented whey in treating bacillary dysentery caused by Shigellaflexneri in albino rats and on the gastrointestinal flora of apparently healthy albino rats were investigated in this study. Prior to the therapeutic experiment, the growth inhibitory potential of whey subjected to different fermentation durations at 30 ± 2oC was first assayed using agar well diffusion method on the test organism. This was compared with that of selected conventional antibiotics. Thereafter, the infectious dose was determined and used to infect another set of apparently healthy ratsorogastrically. The infected rats were grouped into two (3 rats per group), the first group was treated with 1.0 ml of the fermented whey that exerted the highest growth inhibitory activity on the test organism on agar plate (FW1), once daily for seven days while group two was left untreated. The rats were observed for signs of recovery such as formed stool, restored appetite, weight gain, increased activity. The large intestine was dissected out, the lumen rinsed with 10ml of sterile distilled water for isolation and enumeration of microbial types and load present in the organ. Moreover, the organ was subjected to histopathological examination to detect the level of ulceration. For the effects of whey on the gastrointestinal (GI) flora of apparently healthy albino rats, another group of 9 rats was oragastrically fed with FW1 for three months. At 7 days interval, their faeces were examined for microbial loads and types. Prior to this assay, the faeces of the rats used and the fermenting whey used were first examined using microbiological techniques for the types and loads of microorganisms present. The fermented wheys used were observed to exert growth inhibitory activity with zone diameters superior to that of most of the antibiotics tested. In the therapeutic assay, infected rats treated with FW1 recovered at 72 h of treatment while the rats that were not treated with FW1 started to recover at 108 h. The administration of FW1 did not have significant effect (P ≥ 0.05) on the bacterial loads in the gastrointestinal tract of apparently healthy rats, but the types of bacteria because before the commencement of the work, only two types of bacteria ; E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus were isolated however during the course of the feeding, five bacterial species were isolated. These are Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, B. brevis, and Micrococcus lactis majority of which are from the fermented whey used. Eight different types of bacteria were isolated from the whey used, these are B. subtilis, Streptococcus cremolis, L. acidophilus, L. delbreuckii, Pediococcuscerevisiae, B. brevis, M. lactisand L. lactis. In the histological assay there was no ulceration in the large intestine of the rats that were infected and treated with FW1, while there was ulceration in the group of rat that was infected and not treated with FW1. Since FW1 has superior growth inhibitory activity to most conventional antibiotics e.g tetracycline, cotrimoxazole, amoxicillin, ofloxacin, gentamycin, and chloramphenicol against Shigellaflexneri, heal the ulcerative lesions on the surface of the large intestine of infected and treated rats, introduce friendly bacteria (the lactobacilli) into the gastrointestinal tract of the rats it is therefore conceivable that the consumption of FW1 can confer health benefits on individuals in addition to having antibacterial activity