Lactocepin as a protective microbial structure in the context of IBD.

Abstract

Probiotics have been shown to exert beneficial effects in the context of different diseases including inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). However, clinical use of probiotics is hampered by lack of understanding of the protective mechanisms and by safety concerns regarding the application of high numbers of live bacteria in patients. The identification of protective microbial structure-function relationships might enable to overcome these restraints and might lead to innovative therapies using the isolated active microbial structures. In our study, we aimed to characterize the protective mechanisms of VSL#3, a clinically relevant probiotic mixture in IBD. We found Lactobacillus casei/paracasei-produced lactocepin to selectively degrade pro-inflammatory chemokines, resulting in reduced immune cell infiltration and reduced inflammation in experimental IBD models. As immune cell recruitment is a major proinflammatory mechanism our findings suggest that lactocepin might be of broad therapeutic relevance in an array of inflammatory diseases like IBD, allergic skin inflammation and psoriasis.

• Authors: Gabriele Hörmannsperger, Marie-Anne von Schillde, Dirk Haller
• Journal: Gut microbes (Gut Microbes) 2013 Mar-Apr Vol. 4 Issue 2 Pg. 152-7 ISSN: 1949-0984 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 23333860 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Cytokines
• Immunologic Factors
• Serine Endopeptidases
• lactocepin

Topics

• Animals
• Cytokines (antagonists & inhibitors)
• Disease Models, Animal
• Humans
• Immunologic Factors (pharmacology)
• Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (immunology, prevention & control)
• Lacticaseibacillus casei (enzymology)
• Models, Biological
• Probiotics (pharmacology)
• Serine Endopeptidases (metabolism)