Immunological Effects of Probiotic Bacteria in Prevention and Treatment of Allergic Diseases in Children

Epidemiological and experimental studies suggest that changes in gut microbial balance are associated with increases in the prevalence of allergic diseases. Probiotics are proposed to provide beneficial immunoregulatory signals which aid in oral tolerance achievement and alleviation of symptoms of allergic diseases. The present study evaluates both the immunological mechanisms of probiotics in infants with allergic diseases and their preventive aspect among infants prone to allergy. Furthermore, the purpose of the study was to characterise the immunological features of cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMCs) in infants at high genetic risk for allergy. GATA-3 expression (p = 0.03), interleukin (IL) -2(p = 0.026), and IL-5 (p = 0.013) secretion of stimulated CBMCs were higher in IgE-sensitized infants at age 2 than in non-allergic, non-sensitized infants. Lactobacillus GG (LGG) treatment increased secretion of IFN-γ by PBMCs in vitro in infants with cow s milk allergy (CMA) (p = 0.006) and in infants with IgE-associated eczema (p = 0.017), when compared to levels in the placebo group. A probiotic mixture, increased secretion of IL-4 by PBMCs in vitro in infants with CMA (p = 0.028), when compared with placebo-group levels. The LGG treatment induced higher plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) (p = 0.021) and IL-6 (p = 0.036) levels in infants with IgE-associated eczema than in the placebo group. The probiotic mixture induced higher plasma IL-10 levels in infants with eczema (p = 0.016). In the prevention study of allergic dis-eases, the infants receiving the probiotic mixture had higher plasma levels of CRP (p = 0.008), total IgA (p = 0.016), total IgE (p = 0.047), and IL-10 (p = 0.002) than did infants in the placebo group. Increased CRP level at age 6 months was associated with a decreased risk for eczema at age 2 not only in the infants who received probiotics but also in the placebo group (p = 0.034). In conclusion, the priming of the GATA-3 and IL-5 pathway can occur in utero, and a primary feature of T-cells predisposing to IgE-sensitization seems to directly favour Th2 deviation. LGG treatment induced increased plasma levels of CRP and IL-6 in infants with IgE-associated eczema, suggesting an activation of innate immu-nity. The probiotic mixture, when given to allergy-prone infants, induced inflammation, detected as increased plasma CRP levels, which at age 6 months was associated with decreased risk for eczema at age 2.The probiotic-induced response in allergy prone infants was characterized by their higher plasma IL-10, total IgE, and CRP levels, without induction of an allergen-specific IgE response. In this respect, the probiotics in infancy appear to induce protective immune profiles that are characteristic for chronic low-grade inflammation, a response resembling that of helminth-like infections.Epidemiologisten ja kokeellisten tutkimusten perusteella allergioiden esiintyvyyden lisääntyminen liittyy suoliston mikrobitasapainon muutoksiin. Probioottiset bakteerivalmisteet ovat siten kiinnostava mahdollisuus allergioiden hoidossa ja ennaltaehkäisyssä. Tutkimuksessa selvitettiin probioottien immunologisia vaikutusmekanismeja lasten allergioiden hoidossa ja ennaltaehkäisyssä korkean allergiariskin lapsilla. Lisäksi tutkittiin napaveren solujen immunologisia ominaisuuksia ja niiden ennustearvoa allergisten sairauksien suhteen. Stimuloitujen napaveren mononukleaaristen solujen GATA-3-geenin ilmeneminen sekä interleukiini (IL) -2- ja IL-5 -tasot olivat korkeampia kahden vuoden iässä IgE-välitteisesti herkistyneillä lapsilla, kuin niillä, joilla herkistymistä ei havaittu. Lactobacillus GG (LGG)-hoito lisäsi maitoallergisten ja IgE-assosioitua ekseemaa sairastavien lasten IFN-γ tasoja perifeerisestä verestä eristettyjen mononukleaaristen solujen viljelmissä lumeryhmään verrattaessa. Probioottista yhdistelmävalmistetta saaneilla maitoallergisilla lapsilla sen sijaan todettiin soluviljelmissä korkeampia IL-4 tasoja lumeryhmään verrattaessa. LGG-hoitoa saaneilla IgE-assosioitua ekseemaa sairastavilla lapsilla plasman C-reaktiivisen proteiinin (CRP), ja IL-6:n tasot olivat korkeammat ja probioottista yhdistelmävalmistetta saaneilla ekseemaa sairastavilla lapsilla IL-10-tasot olivat korkeammat kuin lumeryhmässä. Allergioiden preventiotutkimuksessa probioottista yhdistemävalmistetta saaneilla lapsilla mitattiin korkeampia plasman CRP-, kokonais-IgA-, kokonais-IgE-, ja IL-10-tasoja lumeryhmään verrattaessa. Kohonnut CRP-taso kuuden kuukauden iässä liittyi alentuneeseen ekseemariskiin kahden vuoden iässä. Johtopäätöksinä todetaan, että GATA-3 ja IL-5 -suuntautunut immuunivaste voi saada alkunsa jo ennen syntymää. Napaveren T-solujen tasapainon suuntautuminen T-auttajasolu (Th)-2 suuntaan näyttäisi liittyvän IgE-herkistymiseen varhaislapsuudessa. LGG-hoito näyttäisi aktivoivan luontaista immuniteettia. Eri bakteerilajit vaikuttavat elimistön immuunivasteeseen eri tavoin. Probioottiset bakteerit saivat aikaan erilaisen immuunivasteen eri tautimuotoja sairastavilla lapsilla viitaten siihen, että yksilön oma immuunijärjestelmä muokkaa probioottien vaikutuksia. Probioottinen yhdistelmävalmiste sai aikaan matala-asteisen tulehdusreaktion korkean allergiariskin lapsilla. Tämä liittyi alentuneeseen ekseemariskiin kahden vuoden iässä. Probioottiset bakteerit näyttäisivät siten tuottavan hyödyllisiä elimistön immunologista tasapainoa tukevia signaaleja matala-asteisen tulehdusreaktion kautta

Oodi kulttuurieroille

Eurooppalainen johtaja – johtamiskulttuurit ja menestystekijät, Harald Simon, Brigitte Bauer & Kalevi Kaivola (1995

From dilemmatic struggle to legitimized indifference: expatriates' host country language learning and its impact on the expatriate-HCE relationship

We address the lack of knowledge concerning the role of host country languages in multinational corporations based on an inductive qualitative study involving 70 interviews with Nordic expatriates and host country employees (HCE) in China. Building on the strongly discrepant views of expatriates and HCEs, we demonstrate how expatriates’ willingness to learn and use the host country language lead to different types of expatriate-HCE relationships, ranging from harmonious to distant or segregated. In doing so, we emphasize the subtle and fragile connection between expatriates’ attitude towards HCEs’ mother tongue and trust formation in addition to the construction of superiority-inferiority relationships

Playing in the academic field: Non-native English-speaking academics in UK business schools

This paper draws on Bourdieu's concepts of field, habitus and capital to explore the ways in which working in English as a non-native language influences foreign academics' performance of academic habitus and the level of their symbolic capital necessary for the achievement of success within UK higher education. Empirically, it is based on interviews with 54 non-native English-speaking academics employed in UK business schools. Our findings point to advantages and disadvantages associated with being a non-native English-speaking academic, to strategies deployed by individuals to enhance their linguistic capital, and to the importance of language not merely as a tool of communication but as a key factor enabling individuals to perform academic habitus in the UK academic field. We reflect on whether, and if so, how, the UK academic field is changing as a result of the increased presence within it of non-UK-born academics and, in particular, the fact of their professional functioning in English as a non-native language

Building professional discourse in emerging markets: Language, context and the challenge of sensemaking

Using ethnographic evidence from the former Soviet republics, this article examines a relatively new and mainly unobserved in the International Business (IB) literature phenomenon of communication disengagement that manifests itself in many emerging markets. We link it to the deficiencies of the local professional business discourse rooted in language limitations reflecting lack of experience with the market economy. This hampers cognitive coherence between foreign and local business entities, adding to the liability of foreignness as certain instances of professional experience fail to find adequate linguistic expression, and complicates cross-cultural adjustments causing multi-national companies (MNCs) financial losses. We contribute to the IB literature by examining cross-border semantic sensemaking through a retrospectively constructed observational study. We argue that a relative inadequacy of the national professional idiom is likely to remain a feature of business environment in post-communist economies for some time and therefore should be factored into business strategies of MNCs. Consequently, we recommend including discursive hazards in the risk evaluation of international projects

How non-native English-speaking staff are evaluated in linguistically diverse organizations: A sociolinguistic perspective

The aim of this paper is to examine the effects of evaluations of non-native speaking staff?s spoken English in international business settings. We adopt a sociolinguistic perspective on power and inequalities in linguistically diverse organizations in an Anglophone environment. The interpretive qualitative study draws on 54 interviews with non-native English-speaking staff in 19 UK business schools. We analyze, along the dimensions of status, solidarity and dynamism, the ways in which non-native speakers, on the basis of their spoken English, are evaluated by themselves and by listeners. We show how such evaluations refer to issues beyond the speaker?s linguistic fluency, and have consequences for her or his actions. The study contributes to the literature on language and power in international business through offering fine-grained insights into and elucidating how the interconnected evaluative processes impact the formation and perpetuation of organizational power relations and inequalities. It also puts forward implications for managing the officially monolingual, yet linguistically diverse organizations

The “Perfect Storm” for Type 1 Diabetes: The Complex Interplay Between Intestinal Microbiota, Gut Permeability, and Mucosal Immunity

It is often stated that type 1 diabetes results from a complex interplay between varying degrees of genetic susceptibility and environmental factors. While agreeing with this principal, our desire is that this Perspectives article will highlight another complex interplay potentially associated with this disease involving facets related to the gut, one where individual factors that, upon their interaction with each another, form a “perfect storm” critical to the development of type 1 diabetes. This trio of factors includes an aberrant intestinal microbiota, a “leaky” intestinal mucosal barrier, and altered intestinal immune responsiveness. Studies examining the microecology of the gastrointestinal tract have identified specific microorganisms whose presence appears related (either quantitatively or qualitatively) to disease; in type 1 diabetes, a role for microflora in the pathogenesis of disease has recently been suggested. Increased intestinal permeability has also been observed in animal models of type 1 diabetes as well as in humans with or at increased-risk for the disease. Finally, an altered mucosal immune system has been associated with the disease and is likely a major contributor to the failure to form tolerance, resulting in the autoimmunity that underlies type 1 diabetes. Herein, we discuss the complex interplay between these factors and raise testable hypotheses that form a fertile area for future investigations as to the role of the gut in the pathogenesis and prevention of type 1 diabetes

Knowledge sharing in a non-native language context: Challenges and strategies

Knowledge sharing is a language-based activity. With the rise of multilingual workforces and the adoption of common corporate languages such as English, knowledge sharing is happening in non-native language contexts more than ever before. This paper explores the challenges and strategies of knowledge sharing in a non-native language at the individual level. For this purpose, an exploratory case study was conducted in a multinational organization. Results show that the use of a non-native language can make knowledge sharing an ambiguous and costly process, eroding some of the benefits of knowledge sharing. It was found that employees adopt three different strategies to deal with problems in the knowledge-sharing process caused by the use of a nonnative language. These strategies—namely discourse adjustment, language adjustment, and media adjustment—play an important role in the successful exchange of knowledge between linguistically diverse individuals

The impact of language barriers on trust formation in multinational teams

This study systematically investigates how language barriers influence trust formation in multinational teams (MNTs). Based on 90 interviews with team members, team leaders, and senior managers in 15 MNTs in three German automotive corporations, we show how MNT members’ cognitive and emotional reactions to language barriers influence their perceived trustworthiness and intention to trust, which in turn affect trust formation. We contribute to diversity research by distinguishing the exclusively negative language effects from the more ambivalent effects of other diversity dimensions. Our findings also illustrate how surface-level language diversity may create perceptions of deep-level diversity. Furthermore, our study advances MNT research by revealing the specific influences of language barriers on team trust, an important mediator between team inputs and performance outcomes. It thereby encourages the examination of other team processes through a language lens. Finally, our study suggests that multilingual settings necessitate a reexamination and modification of the seminal trust theories by Mayer, Davis and Schoorman (1995) and McAllister (1995). In terms of practical implications, we outline how MNT leaders can manage their subordinates’ problematic reactions to language barriers and how MNT members can enhance their perceived trustworthiness in multilingual settings