Pediococcus acidilactici is a species of gram positive coccus that is often found in pairs or tetrads. Pediococcus acidilactici is a homo-fermentative bacterium that can grow in a wide range of pH, temperature and osmotic pressure, therefore being able to colonize the digestive tract. Pediococcus acidilactici has emerged as a potential probiotic that has shown promising results in animal and human experiments, though some of the results are limited. They are commonly found in fermented vegetables, fermented dairy products and meat.

Pediococcus acidilactici are facultative anaerobes that grow well on MRS (deMann, Rogosa, Sharpe) agar of an optimum pH of 6.2, with an overnight incubation at 37 degrees Celsius and 45 degrees Celsius. They are also viable at higher temperatures of up to 65 degrees Celsius .

Pediococcus acidilactici are also acidophilic bacteria which are viable at very low pH. The probiotic, Pediococcus acidilactici is a facultative anaerobe with lesser sensitivity to oxygen. Pediococci exert antagonism against other microorganisms, including enteric pathogens, primarily through the production of lactic acid and secretion of bacteriocins known as pediocins .

Potential Benefits

Pediococcus acidilactici has a wide range of potential benefits of which are still being studied. Though it is being used as probiotic supplements in treating constipation, diarrhea, relieving stress, enhancing immune response among birds and small animals, human trials are still limited. Pediococcus acidilactici is also known to prevent colonization of the small intestine by pathogens like Shigella

Shigella

Shigella is a genus of Gram-negative, nonspore forming, non-motile, rod-shaped bacteria closely related to Escherichia coli and Salmonella. The causative agent of human shigellosis, Shigella causes disease in primates, but not in other mammals. It is only naturally found in humans and apes. During...

, Salmonella

Salmonella

Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, predominantly motile enterobacteria with diameters around 0.7 to 1.5 µm, lengths from 2 to 5 µm, and flagella which grade in all directions . They are chemoorganotrophs, obtaining their energy from oxidation and reduction...

, Clostridium difficile

Clostridium difficile

Clostridium difficile , also known as "CDF/cdf", or "C...

 and Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms . Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some serotypes can cause serious food poisoning in humans, and are occasionally responsible for product recalls...

 among small animals.

Digestive Disorders

Pediococcus acidilactici have been used to treat dogs with digestive disorders and also those dogs which were infected by Parvovirus

Parvovirus

Parvovirus, often truncated to "parvo", is both the common name in English casually applied to all the viruses in the Parvoviridae taxonomic family, and also the taxonomic name of the Parvovirus genus within the Parvoviridae family...

. Prior to treatment with orally administered mixtures of Pediococcus acidilactici and Saccharomyces boulardii

Saccharomyces boulardii

Saccharomyces boulardii is a tropical strain of yeast first isolated from lychee and mangosteen fruit in 1923 by French scientist Henri Boulard. It is related to, but distinct from, Saccharomyces cerevisiae in several taxonomic, metabolic, and genetic properties. S...

 the dogs diagnosed with parvovirus infection were shown to exhibit severe gastro-intestinal distress such as vomiting and bloody diarrhea. After the treatment for three days, the bloody diarrhea ceased and the dogs had solid stools .

Alternative Medicines

Pediococcus acidilactici has not been stated in any literature to have toxic effects. Another potential benefit of using them as Probiotics is their use as alternative medicines against infectious parasitic pathogens like Eimeria

Eimeria

Eimeria is a genus of Apicomplexan parasites that includes various species responsible for the poultry disease coccidiosis. The genus is named for the German zoologist Theodor Eimer...

in broiler-chicken . Pediococcus acidilactici in conjunction with Saccharomyces boulardii stimulates humoral immune response to produce higher Eimeria-specific antibody levels while also reducing the number of oocysts shed by possible competitive inhibition and pediocin production which inhibit pathogenic bacteria and other gram-positive spoilage

Immune Health Benefits

Pediococcus acidilactici can function as immune modulators. Animals fed with P. acidilactici have shown enhanced immune responses against infectious coccidioidal diseases.

Antibiotic Treatment

Dogs typically undergo antibiotic treatment to eliminate infectious pathogens or parasites and to prevent secondary infections. However, the treatment of antibiotics can also disrupt the ecosystems of beneficial microorganisms in dog’s gastrointestinal (GI) tracts. When dogs with digestive disorders were treated by antibiotics together with Pediococcus acidilactici probiotic products, the surviving millions of Pediococcus product are able to alleviate the disruptive balance of microorganisms in dogs’ GI tracts caused by antibiotics treatment and to normalize the intestinal microflora..

Moreover, since antibiotics kill many of competitive pathogenic microorganisms, Pediococcus product can have better beneficial effects in dogs and cats GI tracts when administered together with antibiotics.

Difference from other Probiotic Strains

Most strains of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium are sensitive to room temperature, which raises concerns for storage conditions and maintenance of cell viability. In addition, most Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium are sensitive to acidic exposure and have difficulty in surviving environments with low pH, such as of stomach acid

. Therefore, obtaining consistent and reproducible results becomes the major challenge for the commercial products of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.