The Wisconsin Alumini Research Foundation besides supporting basic research
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison secures patents for industries. In
fact they state that they have obtained over 1000 US patents and over 1500
foreign equivalents. There is a patent # 5922375 called Probiotic
Bifidobacterium Strain who the assignee is Wisconisn Alumini Research
Foundation. This probiotic bifidobacterium strain is a substance designed
for Carnation Good Start and some other foods. How they obtained this strain
should be of interest to us all--very illuminating. At one point the patent
says, " The composition is separate from a live human and essentially free
from human fecal material." You"ll understand why they said this after
reading what I quoted from a portion of the patent. This was filed in 1998
and accepted in 1999 so I don't know whether we now have that specific strain
of probiotic biofidobacterum in Carnation Good Start or not. Valerie W.
McClain, IBCLC
"We took 196 human samples from a family (mother, infant, father, sibling).
Fecal samples (especially from the newborn infant and her sibling) were found
to be the major source of bifidobacteria. Importantly, no bifidobacteria were
found in 6 breast milk samples tested from the mother.
A Bifidobacterium strain was found in oral and nasal samples taken from the
infant immediately after birth, but not from these same sources when sampled
later on the same day. In contrast, no Bifidobacterium strain was recovered
from 11 fecal and 6 vaginal samples within the first 37 hours, but a specific
Bifidobacterium strain was recovered from infant fecal samples obtained from
.gtoreq.38 hours to 1 year after birth. Bifidobacteria were detected in all
11 infant samples obtained at 6 months, but only in 4 out of the 13 samples
obtained at 12 months.
Genomic fingerprinting via pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was
conducted on intact genomic DNA from 16 Bifidobacterium strains from the
newborn female obtained from 6 positive samples (2 each from mouth, nose, and
anus) taken immediately after birth and 1 fecal isolate from the second day
(38 h). All 17 isolates recovered from the 7 positive samples displayed
essentially the same restriction fragment genomic fingerprints. Essentially
the same fingerprint elements were also observed in all 6 Bifidobacterium
strains recovered from 2 fecal samples obtained from the mother at the time
of birth. Maternal feces (not breast milk) was therefore the source of the
Bifidobacterium found in the neonate. Since the breast milk itself did not
have the bacteria, breast milk appears to be a prebiotic, not a probiotic.
Bifidobacterium strains otherwise obtained from the infant within 1 month, at
6 months and up to 3 years after delivery were also analyzed. Isolates
recovered from the infant samples taken from delivery to 1 month belonged to
a single clonal type. However, isolates recovered from samples obtained at 6
months after birth contained three clonal types. Clonal type A was the
predominant group observed in isolates from positive samples from delivery to
1 month. It was also present in bifidobacteria at six months, but was not the
predominant group at 6 months.
Between 1 month and 6 months the infant was fed solid foods and received some
antibiotics. Thus, the different diet and/or medicine is suspected to have
caused subtle changes in the flora that were only discoverable via the
conduct of PFGE.
In addition to 6 isolates recovered from 2 fecal samples taken from the
mother at the time of birth, isolates from 3 fecal samples obtained within 1
month after delivery also displayed the same or closely related genomic
fingerprints to that which predominated in the breast fed child. In contrast,
5 isolates from one vaginal sample and another 2 fecal samples taken from the
mother at the same period showed distinct genomic fingerprints. Also,
isolates from the mother's fecal samples taken at 6 and 12 months displayed
significantly different fingerprints.
These data indicated that a particular clone of Bifidobacterium predominated
in this mother at parturition, and, thereafter, became much less prevalent.
Isolation of this Bifidobacterium clone from a healthy infant throughout the
first 12 months is indicative of the safe nature of this bacterium in vivo.
Its predominance when the infant is youngest (and thus most vulnerable)
suggests its importance.
We therefore chose this strain for the ATCC deposit referred to above, and
for use as a probiotic. The genomic fingerprint of this strain did not match
the genomic fingerprint of any of the known Bifidobacterium strains that we
tested."
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