Green tea catechins are known to have various beneficial effects for the maintenance and promotion of human health, and their anti-obesity effects have recently been highlighted. However, galloylesters of the green tea catechins, such as epigallocathechingallate (EGCg) and epicathechingallate, are known to bind quickly with food ingredients (i.e. proteins) to form a complex that is likely to be inabsorbable through the host intestine, whereas non-esterified catechins such as epi-gallocathechin (EGC) and epicathechin are not. We recently demonstrated that tannase producing Lactobacillus plantarum 22A-3 hydrolyzed EGCg complexed with food ingredients to yield EGC and gallic acid in vitro. In this context, we determined whether an oral administration of L. plantarum 22A-3 hydrolyzed the complex to EGC, thereby exerting an anti-obesity effect in mice. Our results show that joint oral administration of L. plantarum 22A-3 and EGCg markedly reduced not only EGCg content in feces but also total visceral fat per body weight of the mice. The evidence suggests that L. plantarum 22A-3 hydrolyze EGCg complexed with food ingredients to EGC in vivo. This in turn presents the prospect of a probiotic use for L. plantarum 22A-3 to enhance the anti-obesity effect of green tea cathechins.

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Bifidobacterium is a member of the dominant microbiota, and, as well as lactic acid bacteria, is broadly used as a probiotic in fermented milk and supplements. Numerous studies have reported the probiotic effects of bifidobacteria on human physiology, especially related to the immune function, e.g. anti-allergic effects and anti-infective effects. The knowledge obtained from studies of the physiological effects of bifidobacteria and their mechanisms of action might be helpful for gaining insight into the role of microbiota in human health. In this review, we will briefly describe the characteristics of bifidobacteria, then review studies concerning the clinical benefits of bifidobacteria associated with immunomodulation effects, and the mechanisms involved.

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Ulcerative colitis (UC) was regarded as an autoimmune disease after the concept of autoimmunity was proposed, and the bacterial cause theory was not regarded as very important. However, when intestinal bacteria again became suspected as a cause of UC or an inflammation exacerbation factor more studies were performed, and the mechanism of UC onset was identified as bacterial. In this review, I report a Fusobacterium varium cause theory, and the antibiotic combination ATM therapy for UC that we propose with the general remarks about the enterobacterial role in the ulcerative colitis. I also will review the relationship between Fusobacterium and colorectal carcinoma.

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