Lactobacillus helveticus

{{Short description|Species of bacterium}}

{{Speciesbox

| image =

| image_caption =

| genus = Lactobacillus

| species = helveticus

| authority = (Orla-Jensen 1919)
Bergey et al. 1925

}}

Lactobacillus helveticus is a gram-positive, lactic-acid producing, rod-shaped bacterium of the genus Lactobacillus.{{Cite journal |last=Slattery |first=L. |last2=O’Callaghan |first2=J. |last3=Fitzgerald |first3=G.F. |last4=Beresford |first4=T. |last5=Ross |first5=R.P. |year=2010 |title=Invited review: Lactobacillus helveticus—A thermophilic dairy starter related to gut bacteria |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0022030210004753 |journal=Journal of Dairy Science |language=en |volume=93 |issue=10 |pages=4435–4454 |doi=10.3168/jds.2010-3327}} It is most commonly used in the production of American Swiss cheese and Emmental cheese, but is also sometimes used in making other styles of cheese, such as Cheddar, Parmesan, Romano, provolone, and mozzarella. The primary function of L. helveticus culture is to prevent bitterness and produce nutty flavors in the final cheese. In Emmental cheese production, L. helveticus is used in conjunction with a Propionibacterium culture, which is responsible for developing the holes (known as "eyes") through production of carbon dioxide gas.

Ingestion of powdered milk fermented with L. helveticus was shown to decrease blood pressure due to the presence of manufactured tripeptides that have ACE inhibitor activity.{{cite journal

|last1 = Aihara

|first1 = K

|last2 = Kajimoto

|first2 = O

|last3 = Hirata

|first3 = H

|last4 = Takahashi

|first4 = R

|last5 = Nakamura

|first5 = Y.

|name-list-style = vanc

|date = Aug 2005

|title = Effect of powdered fermented milk with Lactobacillus helveticus on subjects with high-normal blood pressure or mild hypertension

|url = http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/full/24/4/257

|journal = J Am Coll Nutr

|volume = 24

|issue = 4

|pages = 257–65

|pmid = 16093403

|doi = 10.1080/07315724.2005.10719473

|s2cid = 18513821

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080413120913/http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/full/24/4/257

|archive-date = 2008-04-13

}} However, results have been contradictory in later studies.{{cite journal

| last1 = Van

| first1 = K

| last2 = der Zander

| first2 = K

| last3 = Bots

| first3 = M

| last4 = Bak

| first4 = A

| last5 = Koning

| first5 = M

| last6 = de Leeuw

| first6 = P

| year = 2008

| title = Enzymatically hydrolyzed lactotripeptides do not lower blood pressure in mildly hypertensive subjects

| url =http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/88/6/1697

| journal = American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

| pmid = 19064533

| volume = 88

| issue = 6

| pages = 1697–1702

| doi = 10.3945/ajcn.2008.26003 | doi-access = free

}}{{cite journal

| doi = 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.107.098988

| last1 = Engberink

| first1 = M

| last2 = Schouten

| first2 = E

| last3 = Kok

| first3 = F

| last4 = van Mierlo

| first4 = L

| last5 = Brouwer

| first5 = I

| last6 = Geleijnse

| first6 = J

| year = 2008

| title = Lactotripeptides Show No Effect on Human Blood Pressure

| journal = Hypertension

| volume = 51

| issue = 2

| pages = 399–405

| pmid = 18086944 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.586.647

| s2cid = 25961096

}}{{cite journal

| last1=Boelsma

| pmid=19061526

| year=2009

| first1=E

| last2=Kloek

| first2=J

| title=Lactotripeptides and antihypertensive effects: a critical review

| journal=The British Journal of Nutrition

| volume=101

| issue=6

|pages=776–86

|name-list-style=vanc

| doi=10.1017/S0007114508137722| doi-access=free

}}

Lactobacillus helveticus has been studied together with Bifidobacterium longum in the treatment of depression and anxiety. A reduction in psychological stress was observed.{{Cite book |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781119904786 |title=The Gut Microbiota in Health and Disease |date=2023-09-07 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-119-90478-6 |editor-last=Srivastava |editor-first=Nimmy |edition=1 |language=en |doi=10.1002/9781119904786 |editor-last2=Ibrahim |editor-first2=Salam |editor-last3=Chattopadhyay |editor-first3=Jayeeta |editor-last4=Arbab |editor-first4=Mohamed}}{{Cite journal |last=Messaoudi |first=Michaël |last2=Lalonde |first2=Robert |last3=Violle |first3=Nicolas |last4=Javelot |first4=Hervé |last5=Desor |first5=Didier |last6=Nejdi |first6=Amine |last7=Bisson |first7=Jean-François |last8=Rougeot |first8=Catherine |last9=Pichelin |first9=Matthieu |last10=Cazaubiel |first10=Murielle |last11=Cazaubiel |first11=Jean-Marc |date=2011-03-14 |title=Assessment of psychotropic-like properties of a probiotic formulation ( Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 and Bifidobacterium longum R0175) in rats and human subjects |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0007114510004319/type/journal_article |journal=British Journal of Nutrition |language=en |volume=105 |issue=5 |pages=755–764 |doi=10.1017/S0007114510004319 |issn=0007-1145}}

The bacterium's specific name is an adjective derived from "Helvetia", the Latin name for the region occupied by the ancient Helvetii (and for modern Switzerland). The bacterium is also used as probiotic.{{Cite journal|last1=Taverniti|first1=Valentina|last2=Guglielmetti|first2=Simone|date=2012-11-19|title=Health-Promoting Properties of Lactobacillus helveticus|journal=Frontiers in Microbiology|volume=3|pages=392|doi=10.3389/fmicb.2012.00392|issn=1664-302X|pmc=3500876|pmid=23181058|doi-access=free }}