YOGURT and other dairy foods can be fortified with live bacteria to elbow out
the bad guys from our digestive systems. Now Swedish researchers think the same
“probiotic” concept could be applied to women’s hygiene products such as tampons
and panty liners. The aim? To exclude bacteria that can cause debilitating
infections of the urinary tract and vagina, some of which are suspected of
causing premature births and of infecting newborns.
Eva Grahn HĂĄkansson and her colleagues at the University of Ume ĂĄ in Sweden
have discovered a strain of bacteria which they hope can be impregnated into
such products to displace the harmful bugs. The idea has been patented by SCA
Hygiene Products of Gothenburg, a major supplier of sanitary products.
“We are at a very early stage, doing basic research, and hoping it will be
commercialised some time,” says Per Martinson, the company’s director of product
health and safety. SCA’s patent reveals the beneficial attributes of a
previously unknown strain of Lactobacillus plantarumoriginally isolated
from the vagina of a healthy pregnant woman.
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In lab tests, HĂĄkansson and her colleagues demonstrated that the L.
plantarum strain completely inhibits growth of several bacteria known to
cause gynaecological and obstetric problems. They include gut-dwelling bacteria
such as Klebsiella species and Escherichia coli, which cause
vaginal and urinary tract infections in women when the bugs spread from their
normal habitat. It also combats group B streptococci, which are notorious for
causing serious infections in newborn babies as they pass through the vagina.
Staphylococci and yeasts such as Candida albicans, which causes thrush,
were also kept at bay.
The new strain of L. plantarumdoes not affect harmless
bacteria—such as other strains of lactobacilli—which normally
dominate in the vagina. The lactic and acetic acids these bacteria produce help
to keep harmful bugs at bay.
In tests on female volunteers, the Ume ĂĄ team showed that L.
plantarum is capable of colonising common sites of infection, such as the
urethral opening and the perineum. The patent also covers use of the bacterium
in ointments, creams and lotions for treating gynaecological conditions.
Håkansson says that the team’s approach is based on “ecological” principles.
“If this works, we wouldn’t need to use antibiotics as much,” she says.
The team found that products impregnated with L. plantarum have a
shelf-life of up to a year. However, these products will have to be validated by
lengthy clinical trials before they can go on sale. It is too early to say which
products, if any, the company might focus on, Martinson says. “Let’s hope it
will be something of benefit to the public.”
Glenn Gibson, a food researcher at the University of Reading, who is
developing strains of Bifidobacterium bifidumwhich combat harmful gut
bacteria, (see New ĐÓ°ÉÔ´´, 15 February 1997, p 5) says he can see
the logic of the Umeå team’s approach. “I’ve never come across the use of
probiotics in panties before, but nevertheless, these organisms are pretty good
inhibitors of pathogens.”