Electroporation enhances the ability of lactobacilli to remove cholesterol

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of electroporation on the membrane properties of lactobacilli and their ability to remove cholesterol in vitro. The growth of lactobacilli cells treated at 7.5 kV/cm for 4 ms was increased by 0.89 to 1.96 log(10) cfu/mL upon fermentation at 37 °C for 20 h, the increase being attributed to the reversible and transient formation of pores and defragmentation of clumped cells. In addition, an increase of cholesterol assimilation as high as 127.2% was observed for most cells electroporated at a field strength of 7.5 kV/cm for 3.5 ms compared with a lower field strength of 2.5 kV/cm. Electroporation also increased the incorporation of cholesterol into the cellular membrane, as shown by an increased cholesterol:phospholipids ratio (50.0-59.6%) upon treatment at 7.5 kV/cm compared with treatment at 2.5 kV/cm. Saturation of cholesterol was observed in different regions of the membrane bilayer such as upper phospholipids, apolar tail, and polar heads, as indicated by fluorescence anisotropy using 3 fluorescent probes. Electroporation could be a useful technique to increase the ability of lactobacilli to remove cholesterol for possible use as cholesterol-lowering adjuncts in the future.