There is a strong correlation between LDL-cholesterol and cardiovascular diseases.~Conjugated bile acids help to break down and emulsify dietary fat into micelles that promote their absorption by the enterocytes. The disruption or alteration of these micelles may interfere with the absorption of cholesterol.~Several intestinal bacteria strains are capable of carrying out numerous biotransformations of bile salts during their enterohepatic circulation, such as the hydrolysis of the conjugated bile acids by the action of hydrolases. The mechanism proposed to explain the cholesterol-lowering activity of these probiotic strains is that, due to the greater bile salt hydroxylation in the intestine, the formation of micelles would decrease and, therefore, the absorption of cholesterol and lipids would be decrease too. In addition, probiotics may also increase the excretion of bile acids in the stool, possibly by binding or absorbing them. This increase in fecal secretion of bile acids would require an increase in the hepatic catabolism of cholesterol for the synthesis of bile acids. All these processes may help to reduce LDL-cholesterol levels Bifidobacterium BSL_PS404 is a bacterium isolated from maternal milk with QPS category that presents a high hydrolase activity that exceeds in more than 20% the activity of other reference strains.
The aim of the present study is to evaluate the ability of Bifidobacterium BSL_PS404 in reducing LDL-cholesterol levels in healthy individuals.