3 research outputs found
The role of beneficial bacteria wall elasticity in regulating innate immune response
Background: Probiotics have great potential to contribute to development of healthy dietary regimes, preventive
care, and an integrated approach to immunity-related disease management. The bacterial wall is a dynamic entity,
depending on many components and playing an essential role in modulating immune response. The impact of cell
wall elasticity on the beneficial effects of probiotic strains has not been sufficiently studied.
The aim was to investigate the effect of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and bifidobacteria strains on phagocytic system
cells (macrophages) as related to bacterial wall elasticity, estimated using atomic force microscopy (AFM).
Methods: We conducted studies on Balb/c line mice 18\u201320 g in weight using lyophilized strains of LAB\u2014Lactobacillus
acidophilus IMV B-7279, Lactobacillus casei IMV B-7280, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus IMV B-7281, and
bifidobacteria\u2014Bifidobacterium animalis VKL and Bifidobacterium animalis VKB. We cultivated the macrophages obtained
from the peritoneal cavity of mice individually with the strains of LAB and bifidobacteria and evaluated their effect on
macrophages, oxygen-dependent bactericidal activity, nitric oxide production, and immunoregulatory cytokines. We used
AFM scanning to estimate bacterial cell wall elasticity.
Results: All strains had a stimulating effect on the functional activity of macrophages and ability to produce NO/NO2
in vitro. Lactobacilli strains increased the production of IL-12 and IFN-\u3b3 in vitro. The AFM demonstrated different cell wall
elasticity levels in various strains of LAB and bifidobacteria. The rigidity of the cell walls among lactobacilli was distributed
as follows: Lactobacillus acidophilus IMV B-7279 > Lactobacillus casei IMV B-7280 > Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp.
bulgaricus IMV B-7281; among the strains of bifidobacteria: B. animalis VKB > B. animalis VKL. Probiotic strain survival in the
macrophages depended on the bacterial cell wall elasticity and on the time of their joint cultivation.
Conclusion: LAB and bifidobacteria strains stimulate immune-modulatory cytokines and active oxygen and nitrogen
oxide compound production in macrophages. Strains with a more elastic cell wall according to AFM data demonstrated
higher resistance to intracellular digestion in macrophages and higher level of their activation.
AFM might be considered as a fast and accurate method to assess parameters of probiotic strain cell wall to predict their
immune-modulatory properties