Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University Hospital, Nagasaki, Japan Otsu Nutraceuticals Research Institute, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Shiga, Japan.
Lett Appl Microbiol. 2011 Jul;53(1):35-43. doi: 10.1111/j.1472-765X.2011.03079.x. Epub 2011 May 31.
Oral administration of probiotics has been known to improve inflammatory responses against infectious diseases. Here, we describe the inhibitory effect of oral intake of heat-killed Lactobacillus pentosus strain b240 (b240) on pneumococcal pneumonia in a murine experimental model.
The mice treated with oral b240 for 21 days before Streptococcus pneumoniae infection exhibited prolonged survival time and less body weight loss, compared with saline-treated control mice. Mild pneumonia with significantly reduced secretion of inflammatory cytokines/chemokines according to related mitogen-activated protein kinase signalling molecules (phosphorylated c-Jun N-terminal kinase) was found in b240-treated mice, whereas severe pneumonia with hypercytokinemia was evident in control mice. Prominent reduction in the number of pneumococci and elevated expression of Toll-like receptor 2 and 4 in the lung tissues was concomitantly noted in b240-treated mice.
These findings indicate that b240 has inhibitory effects on pneumococcal pneumonia induced by Strep. pneumoniae infection and improves inflammatory tissue responses, resulting in reduced damages to the respiratory tissues.
These results demonstrate that oral administration of b240 might protect host animals from Strep. pneumoniae infection by augmentation of innate immune response.
已知益生菌的口服给药可改善针对传染病的炎症反应。在这里，我们描述了热灭活戊糖片球菌 b240（b240）菌株经口服摄入对肺炎链球菌肺炎的实验小鼠模型的抑制作用。
与生理盐水处理的对照组小鼠相比，在肺炎链球菌感染前用 b240 口服治疗 21 天的小鼠表现出存活时间延长和体重减轻减少。b240 治疗的小鼠中发现轻度肺炎，根据相关丝裂原活化蛋白激酶信号分子（磷酸化 c-Jun N 末端激酶），炎症细胞因子/趋化因子的分泌明显减少，而对照组小鼠中则出现严重肺炎和细胞因子血症。在 b240 治疗的小鼠中还同时观察到肺炎球菌数量明显减少，肺组织中 Toll 样受体 2 和 4 的表达增加。
这些发现表明 b240 对肺炎链球菌感染引起的肺炎球菌肺炎具有抑制作用，并改善了炎症组织反应，从而减少了对呼吸组织的损害。
这些结果表明，口服 b240 可能通过增强先天免疫反应来保护宿主动物免受肺炎链球菌感染。
