Compositions comprising bacterial strains
The invention provides compositions comprising one or more bacterial strains for treating or preventing visceral hypersensitivity.
1. A method of reducing sulfide-reducing bacteria in a gastrointestinal tract of a subject, comprising administering to the subject a pharmaceutical composition that comprises: at least 1×10 3 CFU of a lyophilized bacteria strain of the species Blautia hydrogenotrophica ; wherein the bacteria strain comprises a polynucleotide sequence of a 16S rRNA gene that has at least 95% sequence identity to the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:5, as determined by a Smith-Waterman homology search algorithm using an affine gap search with a gap open penalty of 12, a gap extension penalty of 2, and a Blocks Substitution Matrix (BLOSUM) of 62; and a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient, diluent, or carrier,
wherein an amount of the sulfide-reducing bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract of the subject is reduced relative to an amount of sulfide-reducing bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract of the subject prior to the administering, as determined by bacteria count in feces.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the administering results in at least a 1 log decrease in the sulfide-reducing bacteria relative to the amount of sulfide-reducing bacteria prior to the administering.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject has an elevated level of sulfide-reducing bacteria relative to a healthy subject, prior to the administering.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject is human.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pharmaceutical composition is suitable for oral administration.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pharmaceutical composition is a solid pharmaceutical composition.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bacteria strain is active.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the pharmaceutical composition is an enteric formulation.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pharmaceutical composition is encapsulated in one or more capsules.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more capsules are enteric capsules.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pharmaceutical composition comprises an antioxidant.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pharmaceutical composition comprises at least 1×10 9 CFU of the bacteria strain.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pharmaceutical composition comprises from 1×10 3 CFU/g to about 1×10 11 CFU/g of the bacteria strain with respect to total weight of the pharmaceutical composition.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the administering comprises providing one or more doses of 1 g, 3 g, 5 g or 10 g of the pharmaceutical composition.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject has one or more of irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, functional dyspepsia, or infantile colic.
16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising administering an additional therapeutic agent to the subject.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least 50% of the bacteria strain as measured by an amount of CFU, remains viable after about 1 year of storage when the pharmaceutical composition is stored in a closed container at 25° C. at 95% relative humidity.