Effects of a New Compound of Calcium Gluconate and Calcium Lactate on the in vivo and in vitro Growth of Bifidobacterium

Effects of calcium gluconate (GACa) and a new compound of calcium gluconate and calcium lactate (Medical Super Ca; MSCa) on the growth of Bifidobacterium were investigated in vivo and in vitro. In in vitro experiments, GACa and MSCa stimulated the growth of B. bifidum in synthetic VLM medium. However, these substances did not stimulate, rather inhibited in part, the growth of B. bifidum in the complex medium (GAM broth). When 2.2 mg per mouse per day of GACa or MSCa was administered to mice, and feces were assessed for anaerobic bacteria on VLM medium and for facultative anaerobic bacteria on BTB-L agar, there was no difference among the 3 groups of mice administered with or without GACa or MSCa. Colony forming units (CFU) of B. bifidum in feces of the mice drinking 2.2 mg of MSCa was 3.5 × 105 organisms per g of feces, a value intermediate between those drinking 2.2 mg GACa (6.8 × 104) and controls (3.3 × 106). These results suggested that GACa and MSCa stimulated the growth of B. bifidum in synthetic media, and that the effects of MSCa on the growth of bifidobacteria in vivo and in vitro were intermediate between those of GACa and control.