Differential Immunomodulating Effects of Inactivated Probiotic Bacteria on the Allergic Immune Response

Abstract

Bacterial stimulation plays an important role in modulating the allergic immune response. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of inactivated probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus and non-pathogenic Escherichia coli strain Nissle on the phenotype and function of T- and B-cells. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with grass-pollen allergy (n=10) and non-allergic patients (n=19) were co-stimulated with inactivated bacteria and grass-pollen allergen. Expression of CD23, CD80, CD86 and CD69 were analysed, and the intracellular production of interleukin-4 and interferon-gamma was measured by direct ex vivo flow cytometry after stimulation. Both bacteria induced a significant up-regulation of CD69 expression on T-lymphocytes (p=0.001). CD23 expression was significantly increased following stimulation with allergen (p=0.008), but reduced after stimulation with Lactobacillus and significantly reduced with E. coli plus allergen (p=0.029). CD80 expression was reduced after stimulation with Lactobacillus in the allergic group only (p=0.021). By contrast, CD86 expression was significantly increased after stimulation with Lactobacillus (p=0.049) and distinctly increased with E. coli in both groups (p=0.001). The cytokine patterns of CD69-positive T-lymphocytes from allergic patients showed a TH2-dominated response after allergen stimulation (interferon-gamma/interleukin-4-ratio 0.2), directed into a T-helper1-like response by stimulation with both types of bacteria (interferon-gamma/interleukin-4-ratios 1.5-2.0 in both groups). These data show that both types of bacteria modulate the allergic immune response by the alteration of CD23 and co-stimulatory molecule expression. Regarding cytokine production, the data suggest a differential response to both bacteria depending on the atopic state, but a clear promotion of T-helper1-dominated response in allergic donors.

The Immunomodulatory Effects of Probiotic Bacteria on Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (Pbmcs) of Allergic Patients

“…Incubation of PBMCs with living lactobacilli and the allergen showed significant IFN gamma reduction. These findings were similar to those obtained by Rasche et al (2007), they co-stimulated peripheral mononuclear cells of individuals allergic to grass pollen and those non-allergic with inactive Lactobacillus acidophilus and the non-pathogenic Nissle strain of Escherichia, they reported that stimulation with lactobacilli plus allergen resulted in a TH2-like response in allergic and non-allergic individuals.…”

Effects of Live and Inactivated VSL#3 Probiotic Preparations in the Modulation of in vitro and in vivo Allergen-Induced Th2 Responses

“…The immunomodulatory capacity exerted in vitro by the sonicated preparation supports the possibility of using killed probiotic preparations instead of live bacteria, which is still a debated point. Recent in vitro and in vivo studies [15, 16, 20, 21, 43] have reported that killed or inactivated bacteria and even soluble products from bacterial cultures [43] are able to interact with cells of the immune system and to exert their immunomodulatory functions.…”

“…Although several in vitro and in vivo experimental studies indicate that their protective activity is associated with the induction of Th1 or T regulatory responses [11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22], the immunological mechanisms responsible for the immunomodulatory and, in particular, the anti-allergic effects of probiotic bacteria are still not completely defined. In particular, the combined effects of mixtures of different species of probiotic bacteria have been only in part explored in suitable animal models to better understand the in vivo processes that modulate allergy responses.…”

Uso de probióticos na rinite alérgica

“…Rasche et al, 2007, co-stimulated peripheral mononuclear cells of individuals allergic to grass pollen (n=10) and those non-allergic (n=19) with inactive Lactobacillus acidophilus and the non-pathogenic Nissle strain of Escherichia coli and observed that both bacteria modulated the immune response from changes to the CD23 and expression of co-stimulatory molecules. In relation to the production of cytokines, there was a response depending on the presence or not of atopy; however there is an increase in the Th1 cells of atopic individuals 25 . A lysate of Enterococcus faecallis FK-23 (LFK), a probiotic product of E faecallis, showed an inhibitory effect on the local buildup of eosinophils induced by allergens in active skin anaphylaxis in rat models.…”