Effects of oral administration of Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens MDT-1 on the development and healing of atopic dermatitis in NC/Nga mice.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of oral administration of Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens MDT-1 (MDT-1) on mite antigen-induced atopic dermatitis (AD) in NC/Nga mice. When administration of the freeze-dried cells of MDT-1 was initiated one week before mite-antigen swabbing, the development of AD-like skin lesions was alleviated. The cell homogenate and membrane fraction had similar effects, showing that cell components are effective. Freeze-dried cells were found to be replaceable by the crude lipopolysaccharide extracted from MDT-1. Alleviation of AD was concomitant with a decrease in the serum IgE level. Determination of cytokines produced by Peyer's patch cells showed that MDT-1 administration increased IL-12, tended to increase IFN-γ, and tended to decrease IL-10, but did not affect IL-4. When MDT-1 was administered after the skin lesions had progressed, the symptoms were ameliorated, suggesting that MDT-1 has AD-healing effects. MDT-1 was as effective as prednisolone, but different from prednisolone in that MDT-1 showed no detectable side effects such as body weight loss. We previously reported that MDT-1 administration prevented and alleviated colorectal cancer, sarcoma, and enterocolitis in mice. Taken together, MDT-1 might be beneficial for maintaining the health of pet animals and humans.