Abstract
Consumption of the probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus rhamnosus LGG and flavanol-rich cocoa have purported immune modulating effects. This study compared the host response to infection with Ascaris suum in three-month-old pigs fed a standard growth diet supplemented with a vehicle control: LGG, cocoa powder (CP) or LGG + CP. Pigs were inoculated with infective A. suum eggs during Week 5 of dietary treatment and euthanized 17 days later. Lactobacillus abundance was increased in pigs fed LGG or LGG + CP. Specific anti-A. suum IgG2 antibodies were decreased (p < 0.05) in LGG + CP-fed pigs compared to pigs fed CP alone. Pigs fed LGG had significantly reduced expression (p < 0.05) of Eosinophil peroxidase (EPX), Interleukin 13 (IL-13), Eotaxin 3 (CCL26), Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), TLR4, and TLR9 and Interleukin-1Beta (IL1B) in the tracheal-bronchial lymph node (TBLN) independent of CP treatment. These results suggested that feeding LGG significantly reduced the localized prototypical Th2-related markers of infection with A. suum in the TBLN. Although feeding CP does not appear to affect the A. suum-induced Th2-associated cytokine response, feeding LGG + CP reduced anti-A. suum antibodies and delayed intestinal expulsion of parasitic larvae from the intestine.
Highlights
Cocoa products are popular foods rich in flavanols such as catechin and epicathechin monomers, and procyanidin oligomers [1]
We previously demonstrated that consumption of flavanol-rich cocoa powder (CP) modulated colonic microbial metabolites in tissues, increased the abundance of the endogenous Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species in the intestine, and reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine and Toll-like receptor (TLR) gene expression in intestinal tissues and mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) of healthy pigs, suggesting that consumption of CP can support intestinal health [4]
This study provides evidence for an immune modulating effect of daily feeding of Lactobacillus rhamnossus LGG on the localized type-2 immediate-type hypersensitivity response in the lungs of pigs infected with A. suum
Summary
Cocoa products are popular foods rich in flavanols such as catechin and epicathechin monomers, and procyanidin oligomers [1]. Health effects associated with cocoa flavanol consumption depend on their bioavailability and their chemical structure [2]. Monomeric flavanols absorbed in the small intestine can be rapidly detected in plasma and body tissues of animals and humans [3,4]. Flavanol polymers and trimers, and large pro-anthocyanidins appear to be less well absorbed and the beneficial effects depend on intestinal microbial metabolism in the lower bowel [5]. Consumption of cocoa supplemented diets has been shown to influence host inflammation as well as the adaptive immune response, both systemically and in localized tissues. The evidence in humans seems to depend
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