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Updated: Feb 1, 2026

Author Spotlight: Generation and Manipulation of Rat Intestinal Organoids
Published on: June 23, 2023
Prophylactic use of probiotic chocolate modulates intestinal physiological functions in constipated rats
Chul Sang Lee1, Pei Lei Tan1, Ju Young Eor1
1College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
Background:
This study investigated the in vivo prophylactic effect of probiotic chocolate on constipation. Rats were administered chocolate containing 2.5 × 1010 CFU g-1 of probiotics daily for 4 weeks and treated with loperamide (5 mg kg-1 ) daily at the fourth week of treatment.
Results:
Probiotic chocolate treatment significantly (P < 0.05) increased the intestinal motility, colon length, fecal moisture content and number of excreted fecal pellets in constipated rats. Moreover, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction data and histological images also revealed that both probiotic chocolate LYC and BB12 treatments were capable of upregulating the mRNA expression levels of colonic ZO-1, occludin and AQP8, leading to the maintenance of the defensive barrier function in the constipated rats compared with the negative controls. Interestingly, these treatments also modulated gut bacterial populations by increasing the abundance levels of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, as well as reducing the abundance level of Enterobacteriaceae.
Conclusion:
The present study demonstrated that probiotic chocolate LYC and BB12 could potentially be used as alternative agents for prophylactic constipation. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.
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