Probiotic yeasts: Anti-inflammatory potential of various non-pathogenic strains in experimental colitis in mice

AIM: To evaluate the in vitro immunomodulation capacity of various non-pathogenic yeast strains and to investigate the ability of some of these food grade yeasts to prevent experimental colitis in mice.METHODS: In vitro immunomodulation was assessed by measuring cytokines [interleukin (IL)-12p70,IL-10,tumor necrosis factor and interferon γ] released by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells after 24 h stimulation with 6 live yeast strains (Saccharomyces ssp.) and with bacterial reference strains.A murine model of acute 2-4-6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-colitis was next used to evaluate the distinct prophylactic protective capacities of three yeast strains compared with the performance of prednisolone treatment.RESULTS: The six yeast strains all showed similar non-discriminating anti-inflammatory potential when tested on immunocompetent cells in vitro .However,although they exhibited similar colonization patterns in vivo ,some yeast strains showed significant anti-inflammatory activities in the TNBS-induced colitis model,whereas others had weaker or no preventive effect at all,as evidenced by colitis markers (body-weight loss,macroscopic and histological scores,myeloperoxidase activities and blood inflammatory markers).CONCLUSION: A careful selection of strains is required among the biodiversity of yeasts for specific clinical studies,including applications in inflammatory bowel disease and other therapeutic uses.

Correlation between in vitro and in vivo immunomodulatory properties of lactic acid bacteria

AIM: To investigate the correlation between in vitro and in vivo immunomodulation potential of the probiotic strain and its ability to prevent experimental colitis in mice. METHODS: In vitro immunomodulation was assessed by measuring interleukin (IL)-12p70, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFa) and interferon g (IFNg) release by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) after 24 h stimulation with 13 live bacterial strains. A murine model of acute TNBS-colitis was next used to evaluate the prophylactic protective capacity of the same set of strains. RESULTS: A strain-specific in vivo protection was observed. The strains displaying an in vitro potential to induce higher levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 and lower levels of the inflammatory cytokine IL-12, offered the best protection in the in vivo colitis model. In contrast, strains leading to a low IL-10/IL-12 cytokine ratio could not significantly attenuate colitis symptoms. CONCLUSION: These results show that we could predict the in vivo protective capacity of the studied lactic acid bacteria (LAB) based on the cytokine profile we established in vitro. The PBMC-based assay we used may thus serve as a useful primary indicator to narrow down the number of candidate strains to be tested inmurine models for their anti-inflammatory potential.