UCC probiotic research key to responding and coping with stress

A probiotic strain first discovered at UCC appears to improve the ability to respond and cope with stress.

New scientific data, the result of an international study, shows for the first time the probiotic B longum 1714TM enables better stress management by changing the brain’s central processing of stress stimuli.

The B longum 1714TM was first discovered at the APC Microbiome Institute in UCC.

It is from the family of bacteria given from mother to baby at birth.

It is being developed by Alimentary Healthcare for the probiotic, Zenflore, a microbacterial and vitamin supplement.

This trial was carried out at University Hospital Tubingen, Germany and involved Paul Enck, a placebo effect researcher.

The researchers’ interest was in assessing if probiotics really had an effect on the brain.

The trial was conducted over four weeks and participants were asked to play a virtual ball-tossing game with two other virtual players.

Forty healthy volunteers got the probiotic strain or a placebo.

The research confirmed what animal experiments have previously suggested: probiotics can improve stress processing and make it easier for people who are healthy people to deal with stress.

The study has just been published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.