Assessment of in vitro oxalate degradation by Lactobacillus species cultured from veterinary probiotics

OBJECTIVE To culture Lactobacillus spp from veterinary probiotics and measure their in vitro oxalate-degrading capacity. SAMPLE 2 commercial veterinary probiotics containing Lactobacillus spp. PROCEDURES Lactobacillus spp were cultured anaerobically on selective deMan, Rogosa, Sharpe agar medium and subcultured for speciation by 16S rDNA gene sequencing. Isolates were inoculated into broth containing sodium oxalate (5 mg/L) and incubated anaerobically for 72 hours. An oxalate-degrading isolate of Lactobacillus acidophilus (American Type Culture Collection [ATCC] 53544) was the positive control sample; sterile broth containing a known quantity of sodium oxalate was the negative control sample. Oxalate concentrations were detected with ion chromatography. Oxalate degradation was assessed with Dunnett tests to detect differences in mean oxalate concentration for each isolate, compared with results for the negative control. RESULTS Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Lactobacillus casei or Lactobacillus zeae (too closely related to differentiate) were isolated from probiotic 1, and L plantarum was isolated from probiotic 2. Sequencing of the 16S rDNA gene confirmed 100% homology to type species. Lactobacillus acidophilus (ATCC 53544) and L acidophilus from probiotic 1 significantly decreased oxalate concentrations by 85.3 and 161.9 mg/L, respectively. Lactobacillus plantarum from probiotics 1 and 2 significantly increased oxalate concentrations by 56.1 and 36.1 mg/L, respectively. Lactobacillus casei did not alter oxalate concentrations. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Lactobacillus acidophilus isolates significantly reduced oxalate concentrations. In vivo studies are needed to determine whether probiotics containing L acidophilus decrease urine oxalate concentrations and reduce risk of urolith recurrence in dogs with a history of calcium oxalate urolithiasis.