l-Glutamine and l-arginine protect against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli infection via intestinal innate immunity in mice

• Published in: Amino acids Vol. 49; no. 12; pp. 1945 - 1954
• Main Authors: Liu, Gang, Ren, Wenkai, Fang, Jun, Hu, Chien-An Andy, Guan, Guiping, Al-Dhabi, Naif Abdullah, Yin, Jie, Duraipandiyan, Veeramuthu, Chen, Shuai, Peng, Yuanyi, Yin, Yulong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Vienna Springer Vienna 01.12.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analytical Chemistry; Animal models; Animals; Anti-Infective Agents - metabolism; Antimicrobial peptides; Arginine; Arginine - pharmacology; Bacteria; Bacterial Load - drug effects; Biochemical Engineering; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cellular; Colonization; Dietary Supplements; Duodenum; E coli; Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli - drug effects; Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli Infections - drug therapy; Escherichia coli Infections - immunology; Female; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation - drug effects; Glutamine; Glutamine - pharmacology; Goblet cells; Ileum; Ileum - drug effects; Ileum - immunology; Immunity; Immunity, Innate - drug effects; Immunoglobulin A; Infections; Innate immunity; Intestinal Mucosa - drug effects; Intestinal Mucosa - immunology; Intestinal Mucosa - physiopathology; Jejunum; Jejunum - drug effects; Jejunum - immunology; Life Sciences; Mice; Mucin; Neurobiology; Organoid and Animal Models in Therapeutics; Original Article; Paneth cells; Peptides; Protective Agents - pharmacology; Proteomics; Rodents; Signal Transduction - drug effects; Small intestine; Paneth cell; Innate immunity; Enterotoxigenic; Arginine; Glutamine; Enterotoxigenic E. coli
• ISSN: 0939-4451; 1438-2199
• DOI: 10.1007/s00726-017-2410-9

Dietary glutamine (Gln) or arginine (Arg) supplementation is beneficial for intestinal health; however, whether Gln or Arg may confer protection against Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) infection is not known. To address this, we used an ETEC-infected murine model to investigate the protective effects of Gln and Arg. Experimentally, we pre-treated mice with designed diet of Gln or Arg supplementation prior to the oral ETEC infection and then assessed mouse mortality and intestinal bacterial burden. We also determined the markers of intestinal innate immunity in treated mice, including secretory IgA response (SIgA), mucins from goblet cells, as well as antimicrobial peptides from Paneth cells. ETEC colonized in mouse small intestine, including duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, and inhibited the mRNA expression of intestinal immune factors, such as polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR), cryptdin-related sequence 1C (CRS1C), and Reg3γ. We found that dietary Gln or Arg supplementation decreased bacterial colonization and promoted the activation of innate immunity (e.g., the mRNA expression of pIgR, CRS1C, and Reg3γ) in the intestine of ETEC-infected mice. Our results suggest that dietary arginine or glutamine supplementation may inhibit intestinal ETEC infection through intestinal innate immunity.