Hecto Healthcare said on Thursday that results from an animal-model study of periodontitis using its in-house probiotic strain Lactobacillus fermentum BELF11, or BELF11, were published consecutively in domestic and overseas academic journals.

The company said the study was jointly conducted by a research team at the College of Dentistry of Gangneung-Wonju National University and Hecto Healthcare's Microbiome Research Institute. It said results from a 2025 analysis of histological and cellular-level changes in an animal model of periodontitis were recently published in the Journal of Korean Oral Anatomy.

The company said the study followed an earlier observation study on easing alveolar bone loss that was published in the international journal Oral Diseases in 2023. It added that the work was meaningful in that it built periodontitis research data on BELF11 in stages.

In the 2025 follow-up study, researchers conducted a histological analysis of periodontal tissue based on the same animal model and observed cellular-level changes in greater depth. The company said the BELF11 group showed a significant decrease versus the control group in expression of osteoclasts linked to gum bone condition and immune cells linked to gum inflammatory responses. The company stressed that the findings suggest research observations of changes in indicators related to tissue damage and inflammatory responses linked to BELF11 in a periodontitis model environment.

The company said the results connect with the earlier study published in 2023, in which a trend of easing alveolar bone loss was observed when BELF11 was applied in a mouse model induced with periodontitis. It said micro-CT and histological analyses also confirmed patterns of maintained connective tissue structure and reduced inflammatory cell infiltration. The research team previously suggested that BELF11 may have affected easing alveolar bone loss by being linked to reduced expression of inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, MMP-9).

A Hecto Healthcare official said the findings have academic significance because results accumulated across different studies confirmed histological change patterns of a specific probiotic strain in a periodontitis environment from multiple angles. The official said the company plans to continue research on ingredients and building scientific evidence based on accumulated results.

Dr.Breath Oral Probiotics, which ideally blends the patented strains Lactobacillus fermentum BELF11 and Levilactobacillus brevis (L. brevis CD2) used in the study, was designed based on oral research experience and expertise. The company said Kim Seok-jin, Hecto Healthcare's chief executive and a former dentist, participated in its development process.