Antitumor Activity of Probiotic Bacteria and the Bacterial Association in the Tumor Growth Model and in Cell Culture

Abstract

Strains of lactic acid and propionic acid bacteria and the A-5 bacterial association composed of the Lactobacillus brevis B-3/A-26, L. plantarum 2v/А-6, L. plantarum 14d/I, and Propionibacterium shermanii 2/10 cultures in equal proportion exhibiting high antitumor activity have been selected using the fungus Fusarium bulbigenum var. blasticola tumorlike growth model. L. acidophilus 27w, L. plantarum 2v/I, 2v/A-6, and 22A-310, L. fermentum 127A-4, L. cellobiosus 7n, L. salivarius 39n, P. shermanii 2/10, and the А-5 association were shown to inhibit completely the tumorlike growth of the fungus when present as 2% native cultures in the nutrient medium. The high antitumor activity of the A-5 association comparable with that of the therapeutic agents doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide was confirmed using human tumor cell lines originating from different organs (HepG2, RD, and H9). It has been demonstrated that the bacterial strains comprising the A-5 association were resistant to doxorubicin and methotrexate, the antitumor drugs tested.