Treatment with the Probiotic Product Aviguard® Alleviates Inflammatory Responses during Campylobacter jejuni-Induced Acute Enterocolitis in Mice |
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Authors: | Markus M Heimesaat Dennis Weschka Soraya Mousavi Stefan Bereswill |
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Affiliation: | Institute of Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Gastrointestinal Microbiology Research Group, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, D-12203 Berlin, Germany; (D.W.); (S.B.) |
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Abstract: | Prevalences of Campylobacter (C.) jejuni infections are progressively rising globally. Given that probiotic feed additives, such as the commercial product Aviguard®, have been shown to be effective in reducing enteropathogens, such as Salmonella, in vertebrates, including livestock, we assessed potential anti-pathogenic and immune-modulatory properties of Aviguard® during acute C. jejuni-induced murine enterocolitis. Therefore, microbiota-depleted IL-10−/− mice were infected with C. jejuni strain 81-176 by gavage and orally treated with Aviguard® or placebo from day 2 to 4 post-infection. The applied probiotic bacteria could be rescued from the intestinal tract of treated mice, but with lower obligate anaerobic bacterial counts in C. jejuni-infected as compared to non-infected mice. Whereas comparable gastrointestinal pathogen loads could be detected in both groups until day 6 post-infection, Aviguard® treatment resulted in improved clinical outcome and attenuated apoptotic cell responses in infected large intestines during acute campylobacteriosis. Furthermore, less distinct pro-inflammatory immune responses could be observed not only in the intestinal tract, but also in extra-intestinal compartments on day 6 post-infection. In conclusion, we show here for the first time that Aviguard® exerts potent disease-alleviating effects in acute C. jejuni-induced murine enterocolitis and might be a promising probiotic treatment option for severe campylobacteriosis in humans. |
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Keywords: | competitive exclusion product Aviguard® gut microbiota enteropathogenic infection Campylobacter jejuni immune-modulatory effects microbiota-depleted IL-10− /− mice acute campylobacteriosis model host– pathogen interaction probiotic formulations |
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