The lactic acid bacterium Pediococcus acidilactici suppresses autoimmune encephalomyelitis by inducing IL-10-producing regulatory T cells

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 6; no. 11; p. e27644
• Main Authors: Takata, Kazushiro, Kinoshita, Makoto, Okuno, Tatsusada, Moriya, Masayuki, Kohda, Tohru, Honorat, Josephe A, Sugimoto, Tomoyuki, Kumanogoh, Atsushi, Kayama, Hisako, Takeda, Kiyoshi, Sakoda, Saburo, Nakatsuji, Yuji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 15.11.2011; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Acids; Administration, Oral; Analysis; Anaphylaxis; Animal models; Animals; Antigens; Arthritis; Autoimmune diseases; Bacteria; Bacteroides fragilis; Biology; Brain Diseases - immunology; Brain Diseases - metabolism; Brain Diseases - microbiology; Brain Diseases - therapy; CD4 antigen; Central nervous system; Cytokines; Dendritic cells; Encephalitis; Encephalomyelitis; Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis; Female; Food; Foxp3 protein; Hashimoto Disease - immunology; Hashimoto Disease - metabolism; Hashimoto Disease - microbiology; Hashimoto Disease - therapy; Immune response; Immune system; Immunoglobulins; Immunology; Immunoregulation; Inflammation; Inflammatory bowel disease; Interleukin 1; Interleukin 10; Interleukin-10 - biosynthesis; Interleukins; Intestinal microflora; Intestine; Laboratories; Lactic acid; Lactic Acid - biosynthesis; Lactic acid bacteria; Lamina propria; Lymph nodes; Lymphatic system; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Medical research; Medicine; Mice; Microbiota (Symbiotic organisms); Multiple sclerosis; Nervous system; Neurology; Oral administration; Pathogenesis; Pediococcus; Pediococcus - metabolism; Pediococcus - physiology; Prophylaxis; Rodents; Small intestine; T cells; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory - metabolism; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory - microbiology; University graduates; Japan
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0027644

Certain intestinal microflora are thought to regulate the systemic immune response. Lactic acid bacteria are one of the most studied bacteria in terms of their beneficial effects on health and autoimmune diseases; one of which is Multiple sclerosis (MS) which affects the central nervous system. We investigated whether the lactic acid bacterium Pediococcus acidilactici, which comprises human commensal bacteria, has beneficial effects on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of MS. P. acidilactici R037 was orally administered to EAE mice to investigate the effects of R037. R037 treatment suppressed clinical EAE severity as prophylaxis and therapy. The antigen-specific production of inflammatory cytokines was inhibited in R037-treated mice. A significant increase in the number of CD4(+) Interleukin (IL)-10-producing cells was observed in the mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) and spleens isolated from R037-treated naive mice, while no increase was observed in the number of these cells in the lamina propria. Because only a slight increase in the CD4(+)Foxp3(+) cells was observed in MLNs, R037 may primarily induce Foxp3(-) IL10-producing T regulatory type 1 (Tr1) cells in MLNs, which contribute to the beneficial effect of R037 on EAE. An orally administered single strain of P. acidilactici R037 ameliorates EAE by inducing IL10-producing Tr1 cells. Our findings indicate the therapeutic potential of the oral administration of R037 for treating multiple sclerosis.