Effects of Intake of Pickles Containing Lactobacillus brevis on Immune Activity and Bowel Symptoms in Female Students

Forty-four female students with a tendency for constipation (mean age, 20.2±3.3 y) were asked to consume 30 g test pickles daily for 2 wk and were divided into 3 groups: viable-cell intake subjects (n=14, 3.0×105 colony-forming units of viable LAB (lactic acid bacteria) cells per sample), dead-cells intake subjects (n=15, viable cells were heat sterilized), and placebo-intake subjects (n=15, LAB removed from the pickles). γ-Aminobutyric acid content of 75.1±3.2 mg per sample was noted, with no marked difference between samples containing viable and dead cells. Natural killer (NK)-cell activity (% specific lysis) in serum from dead-cell intake subjects was 37.5±17.0% before the start of the test-food intake and 47.7±20.1% after intake, indicating statistically significant effects (p