From Gut Microbes 1 July 2013.
Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 modulates host inflammatory processes beyond the gut
David Groeger(1), Liam O’Mahony(2), Eileen F. Murphy(1), John F. Bourke(3), Timothy G. Dinan(4), Barry Kiely (1), Fergus Shanahan(4,50, and Eamonn M.M. Quigley (4,5,*)
1) Alimentary Health Ltd.; Cork, Ireland
2) Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research; University of Zurich; Davos, Switzerland
3) Department of Dermatology; South Infirmary-Victoria University Hospital; Cork, Ireland
4) Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre; Department of Medicine; University College Cork; Cork, Ireland
5) Department of Medicine; Clinical Sciences Building; Cork University Hospital; Cork, Ireland
*Correspondence to: Eamonn M.M. Quigley, Email: gro.shmt@yelgiuqe
Abstract
Certain therapeutic microbes, including Bifidobacteria infantis (B. infantis) 35624 exert beneficial immunoregulatory effects by mimicking commensal-immune interactions; however, the value of these effects in patients with non-gastrointestinal inflammatory conditions remains unclear.
In this study, we assessed the impact of oral administration of B. infantis 35624, for 6‒8 weeks on inflammatory biomarker and plasma cytokine levels in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) (n = 22), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) (n = 48) and psoriasis (n = 26) in three separate randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled interventions.
Additionally, the effect of B. infantis 35624 on immunological biomarkers in healthy subjects (n = 22) was assessed. At baseline, both gastrointestinal (UC) and non-gastrointestinal (CFS and psoriasis) patients had significantly increased plasma levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and the pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) compared with healthy volunteers.
B. infantis 35624 feeding resulted in reduced plasma CRP levels in all three inflammatory disorders compared with placebo. Interestingly, plasma TNF-α was reduced in CFS and psoriasis while IL-6 was reduced in UC and CFS. Furthermore, in healthy subjects, LPS-stimulated TNF-α and IL-6 secretion by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was significantly reduced in the B. infantis 35624-treated groups compared with placebo following eight weeks of feeding.
These results demonstrate the ability of this microbe to reduce systemic pro-inflammatory biomarkers in both gastrointestinal and non-gastrointestinal conditions. In conclusion, these data show that the immunomodulatory effects of the microbiota in humans are not limited to the mucosal immune system but extend to the systemic immune system.
Thank you. This confirms my own experiences of taking the probiotics and leaving them alone. That is, staying infection free for long periods of time and then contacting one when I have a 3 month period without probiotics.
It seems to work that way for me, but not all people find them useful and therefore it’s trial and error, as with most other products and even medication.
Interesting if some of the effect is due to lowering ecoli load in gut and hence LPS.