The five probiotic strains that inhibited both C. difficile and
C. perfringens reference strains in the broth culture inhibition assay
were tested against five clinical and reference strains of C. difficile
and C. perfringens by the agar well diffusion assay. All five probiotic
supernatants also inhibited growth of C. difficile ribotypes 027, 066
and 023, and of C. perfringens strains Type A, genotype plcþ, cpeþ
and Type A genotype plcþ, cpb2þ.
The two probiotic strains that inhibited C. perfringens in a pHindependent
manner (L. plantarum LPAL and B. animalis lactis
BLC1) were tested for their inhibitory activity against E. coli and
S. aureus to determine the spectrum of the antimicrobial activity.
The supernatant of L. plantarum LPAL inhibited both E. coli and
S. aureus in a pH-independent manner. The supernatant of
B. animalis lactis BLC1 inhibited neither E. coli nor S. aureus.