Vaginal adhesion of Lactobacillus plantarum P17630 after probiotic food supplement oral administration: a preliminary in vivo study

The bioactivity of probiotic bacteria is well established in the literature at different levels. Some probiotic microorganisms are able to adhere to vaginal epithelial cells (VECs), particularly after topical treatment. A spontaneous study was conducted on women to assess the presence of Lactobacillus plantarum P17630 in vaginal mucosa after food supplement oral administration. Six healthy fertile volunteers were treated for 60 consecutive days with one sachet per day of a commercialised product, containing a total of 50×109 CFU of L. plantarum P17630, L. paracasei I1688 and L. salivarius I1794. After 30 days, 80% of treated subjects showed the presence of L. plantarum P17630 in vaginal mucosa. After 15 days of a wash-out period, the presence of L. plantarum P17630 was attested in the same percentage of subjects, confirming the colonisation. Moreover, during the treatment period, the total lactobacilli amount remained constant and the presence of monitored vaginal pathogen microorganisms decreased in some subjects. Concluding, with this work we showed that continued, regular and persistent oral administration of a probiotic food supplement could guarantee the colonisation and persistence of L. plantarum P17630 in the vaginal ecosystem.