The development of the intestinal microbiota in the first years of life is a dynamic process significantly influenced by early‐life nutrition. Pioneer bacteria colonizing the infant intestinal tract ...and the gradual diversification to a stable climax ecosystem plays a crucial role in establishing host–microbe interactions essential for optimal symbiosis. This colonization process and establishment of symbiosis may profoundly influence health throughout life. Recent developments in microbiologic cultivation‐independent methods allow a detailed view of the key players and factors involved in this process and may further elucidate their roles in a healthy gut and immune maturation. Aberrant patterns may lead to identifying key microbial signatures involved in developing immunologic diseases into adulthood, such as asthma and atopic diseases. The central role of early‐life nutrition in the developmental human microbiota, immunity, and metabolism offers promising strategies for prevention and treatment of such diseases. This review provides an overview of the development of the intestinal microbiota, its bidirectional relationship with the immune system, and its role in impacting health and disease, with emphasis on allergy, in early life.
Rotaviruses are the single most important cause of severe diarrhea in young children worldwide. The developments of specific, potent and accessible antiviral treatments that restrain rotavirus ...infection remain important to control rotavirus disease.
150 plant extracts with nutritional applications were screened in vitro on MA-104 cells for their antiviral activity against rhesus rotavirus (RRV). One extract (Aspalathus linearis (Burm.f.) R.Dahlgren) was also tested for its effect on the loss of transepithelial resistance (TER) of Caco-2 cells caused by simian rotavirus (SA-11) infection.
Aqueous extracts of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. fruit, Urtica dioica L. root, Aspalathus linearis (Burm.f.) R.Dahlgren leaves, Glycyrrhiza glabra L. root and Olea europaea L. leaves were found to have strong significant antiviral activity with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) < 300 μg/ml. The pure compound 18ß-glycyrrhetinic acid from Glycyrrhiza glabra was found to have the strongest antiviral activity (IC50 46 μM), followed by luteolin and vitexin from Aspalathus linearis (IC50 respectively 116 μM and 129 μM) and apigenin-7-O-glucoside from Melissa officinalis (IC50 150 μM). A combination of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. + Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. and Urtica dioica L. + Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. showed synergy in their anti-viral activities. Aspalathus linearis (Burm.f.) R.Dahlgren showed no positive effect on the maintenance of the TER.
These results indicate that nutritional intervention with extracts of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn., Aspalathus linearis (Burm.f.) R.Dahlgren, Urtica dioica L., Glycyrrhiza glabra L. and Olea europaea L. might be useful in the treatment of diarrhea caused by rotavirus infection.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
To investigate the effects of exercise on salivary concentrations of inflammatory markers by analyzing a panel of 25 inflammatory markers in subjects who had participated in bicycle ergometer tests ...varying in workload and hydration status. Fifteen healthy young men (20-35 years) had performed 4 different exercise protocols of 1 hour duration in a randomly assigned cross-over design, preceded by a rest protocol. Individual workloads depended on participant's pre-assessed individual maximum workload (Wmax): rest (protocol 1), 70% Wmax in hydrated (protocol 2) and dehydrated (protocol 3) state, 50% Wmax (protocol 4) and intermittent 85%/55% Wmax in 2 min blocks (protocol 5). Saliva samples were collected before (T0) and immediately after exercise (T1), and at several time points after exercise (2 hours (T3), 3 hours (T4), 6 hours (T5) and 24 hours (T6)). Secretory Leukocyte Protease Inhibitor (SLPI), Matrix Metallopeptidase-9 (MMP-9) and lactoferrin was analyzed using a commercial ELISA kit, a panel of 22 cytokines and chemokines were analyzed using a commercial multiplex immunoassay. Data was analyzed using a multilevel mixed linear model, with multiple test correction. Among a panel of 25 inflammatory markers, SLPI concentrations were significantly elevated immediately after exercise in all protocols compared to rest and higher concentrations reflected the intensity of exercise and hydration status. MMP-9 showed a significant increase in the 70% Wmax dehydrated, 50% Wmax and intermittent protocols. Salivary concentrations of SLPI and MMP-9 seem associated with exercise intensity and hydration status and may offer non-invasive biomarkers to study (local) inflammatory responses to different exercise intensities in human studies.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•3D-based primary intestinal organoids support the infection of both experimental and patient-derived rotavirus strains.•Rotavirus infection provokes the induction of interferon-stimulated genes in ...organoids.•Interferon-alpha and ribavirin inhibit rotavirus replication in organoids.•Organoids infected with patient rotavirus can be potentially utilized for personalized evaluation of antivirals.
Despite the introduction of oral vaccines, rotavirus still kills over 450,000 children under five years of age annually. The absence of specific treatment prompts research aiming at further understanding of pathogenesis and the development of effective antiviral therapy, which in turn requires advanced experimental models. Given the intrinsic limitations of the classical rotavirus models using immortalized cell lines infected with laboratory-adapted strains in two dimensional cultures, our study aimed to model infection and antiviral therapy of both experimental and patient-derived rotavirus strains using three dimensional cultures of primary intestinal organoids. Intestinal epithelial organoids were successfully cultured from mouse or human gut tissues. These organoids recapitulate essential features of the in vivo tissue architecture, and are susceptible to rotavirus. Human organoids are more permissive to rotavirus infection, displaying an over 10,000-fold increase in genomic RNA following 24h of viral replication. Furthermore, infected organoids are capable of producing infectious rotavirus particles. Treatment of interferon-alpha or ribavirin inhibited viral replication in organoids of both species. Importantly, human organoids efficiently support the infection of patient-derived rotavirus strains and can be potentially harnessed for personalized evaluation of the efficacy of antiviral medications. Therefore, organoids provide a robust model system for studying rotavirus–host interactions and assessing antiviral medications.
IgE-mediated food allergies are caused by adverse immunologic responses to food proteins. Allergic reactions may present locally in different tissues such as skin, gastrointestinal and respiratory ...tract and may result is systemic life-threatening reactions. During the last decades, the prevalence of food allergies has significantly increased throughout the world, and considerable efforts have been made to develop curative therapies. Food allergen immunotherapy is a promising therapeutic approach for food allergies that is based on the administration of increasing doses of culprit food extracts, or purified, and sometime modified food allergens. Different routes of administration for food allergen immunotherapy including oral, sublingual, epicutaneous and subcutaneous regimens are being evaluated. Although a wealth of data from clinical food allergen immunotherapy trials has been obtained, a lack of consistency in assessed clinical and immunological outcome measures presents a major hurdle for evaluating these new treatments. Coordinated efforts are needed to establish standardized outcome measures to be applied in food allergy immunotherapy studies, allowing for better harmonization of data and setting the standards for the future research. Several immunological parameters have been measured in food allergen immunotherapy, including allergen-specific immunoglobulin levels, basophil activation, cytokines, and other soluble biomarkers, T cell and B cell responses and skin prick tests. In this review we discuss different immunological parameters and assess their applicability as potential outcome measures for food allergen immunotherapy that may be included in such a standardized set of outcome measures.
Introduction Maternal synbiotic supplementation during pregnancy and lactation can significantly influence the immune system. Prebiotics and probiotics have a positive impact on the immune system by ...preventing or ameliorating among others intestinal disorders. This study focused on the immunomodulatory effects of B. breve M-16V and short chain galacto-oligosaccharides (scGOS)/long chain fructo-oligosachairdes (lcFOS), including systemic and mucosal compartments and milk composition. Methods Lewis rats were orally administered with the synbiotic or vehicle during pregnancy (21 days) and lactation (21 days). At the weaning day, small intestine (SI), mammary gland (MG), adipose tissue, milk, mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN), salivary gland (SG), feces and cecal content were collected from the mothers. Results The immunoglobulinome profile showed increased IgG2c in plasma and milk, as well as elevated sIgA in feces at weaning. The supplementation improved lipid metabolism through enhanced brown adipose tissue activity and reinforced the intestinal barrier by increasing the expression of Muc3 , Cldn4 , and Ocln . The higher production of short chain fatty acids in the cecum and increased Bifidobacterium counts suggest a potential positive impact on the gastrointestinal tract. Discussion These findings indicate that maternal synbiotic supplementation during gestation and lactation improves their immunological status and improved milk composition.
Immune system development during gestation and suckling is significantly modulated by maternal environmental and dietary factors. Breastfeeding is widely recognized as the optimal source of nutrition ...for infant growth and immune maturation, and its composition can be modulated by the maternal diet. In the present work, we investigated whether oral supplementation with Bifidobacterium breve M-16V and short-chain galacto-oligosaccharide (scGOS) and long-chain fructo-oligosaccharide (lcFOS) to rat dams during gestation and lactation has an impact on the immune system and microbiota composition of the offspring at day 21 of life. On that day, blood, adipose tissue, small intestine (SI), mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN), salivary gland (SG), cecum, and spleen were collected. Synbiotic supplementation did not affect the overall body or organ growth of the pups. The gene expression of Tlr9, Muc2, IgA, and Blimp1 were upregulated in the SI, and the increase in IgA gene expression was further confirmed at the protein level in the gut wash. Synbiotic supplementation also positively impacted the microbiota composition in both the small and large intestines, resulting in higher proportions of Bifidobacterium genus, among others. In addition, there was an increase in butanoic, isobutanoic, and acetic acid concentrations in the cecum but a reduction in the small intestine. At the systemic level, synbiotic supplementation resulted in higher levels of immunoglobulin IgG2c in plasma, SG, and MLN, but it did not modify the main lymphocyte subsets in the spleen and MLN. Overall, synbiotic maternal supplementation is able to positively influence the immune system development and microbiota of the suckling offspring, particularly at the gastrointestinal level.
Rotavirus (RV) causes morbidity and mortality among infants worldwide, and there is evidence that probiotics and prebiotics can have a positive influence against infective processes such as that due ...to RV. The aim of this study was to evidence a preventive role of one prebiotic mixture (of short-chain galactooligosaccharide/long-chain fructooligosaccharide), the probiotic
M-16V and the combination of the prebiotic and the probiotic, as a synbiotic, in a suckling rat double-RV infection model. Hyperimmune bovine colostrum was used as protection control. The first infection was induced with RV SA11 and the second one with EDIM. Clinical variables and immune response were evaluated after both infections. Dietary interventions ameliorated clinical symptoms after the first infection. The prebiotic and the synbiotic significantly reduced viral shedding after the first infection, but all the interventions showed higher viral load than in the RV group after the second infection. All interventions modulated
antibody and cytokine production, gut wash cytokine levels and small intestine gene expression after both infections. In conclusion, a daily supplement of the products tested in this preclinical model is highly effective in preventing RV-induced diarrhea but allowing the boost of the early immune response for a future immune response against reinfection, suggesting that these components may be potential agents for modulating RV infection in infants.
Probiotic supplementation with different lactobacilli and bifidobacterial strains has demonstrated beneficial effects in infectious diarrhea caused by rotavirus (RV) in young children. Preclinical ...models of RV infection might be a good strategy to screen for the efficacy of new probiotic strains or to test their comparative efficacy. Neonatal Lewis rats were supplemented with
M-16V,
NCFM,
, or
PS2 from days 2-14 of life. On day five, animals received RV SA-11 orally. Fecal samples were collected daily, weighed, and scored for the calculation of severity and incidence of diarrhea. In addition, fecal pH and fecal viral shedding were measured. Animals were sacrificed at the end of the study and their blood was obtained for the quantification of RV-specific immunoglobulins. RV infection was induced in ~90% of the animals. All probiotics caused a reduction of several clinical variables of severity and incidence of diarrhea, except
PS2.
NCFM,
M-16V, and
R0052 seemed to be very effective probiotic strains. In addition, all
strains reduced the viral elimination one day post-inoculation. No differences were detected in the specific anti-RV humoral response. The present study highlights the strain-specific effects of probiotics and identifies promising probiotics for use in ameliorating and preventing RV-induced diarrhea in children, for example by including them in infant formulas.
Human milk oligosaccharides are unconjugated complex glycans present in high concentration in human milk that serve as pre-biotics and immunomodulators. They are not primarily absorbed or metabolized ...by the infant and reach the lower part of the intestinal tract unaltered. One of the main oligosaccharides found in human milk is 2'-fucosyllactose (2'-FL). This study aimed to investigate the effects of daily oral administration of 2'-FL in healthy suckling rats. From days 2 to 16 of life, rats were daily given the oligosaccharide (2'-FL) or vehicle (REF), weighed and their stool characteristics were assessed. On days 8 and 16 of life the morphometry, intestinal architecture, and cytokine release, mesenteric lymph nodes cell composition, plasma immunoglobulin concentrations, fecal microbiota composition, cecal short-chain fatty acids content, and the urinary metabolic profile were assessed. Animals given 2'-FL showed higher plasma IgG and IgA and more T cell subsets in the mesenteric lymph nodes on day 16. Moreover, at intestinal level, villus heights, and areas were increased on day 8. Cecal samples displayed a higher
proportion and a different urinary metabolic profile was observed on day 8, and a higher proportion of butyrate on day 16. In conclusion, supplementation of 2'-FL in early life has a pre-biotic and intestinal trophic effect and promotes maturation of the immune system.