Abstract
Probiotics are defined as live micro-organisms that when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host. Among their pleiotropic effects, inhibition of pathogen colonization at the mucosal surface as well as modulation of immune responses are widely recognized as the principal biological activities of probiotic bacteria. In recent times, the immune effects of probiotics have led to their application as vaccine adjuvants, offering a novel strategy for enhancing the efficacy of current vaccines. Such an approach is particularly relevant in regions where infectious disease burden is greatest and where access to complete vaccination programs is limited. In this study, we report the effects of the probiotic, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) on immune responses to tetanus, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and pneumococcal conjugate (PCV7) vaccines in infants. This study was conducted as part of a larger clinical trial assessing the impact of maternal LGG supplementation in preventing the development of atopic eczema in infants at high-risk for developing allergic disease. Maternal LGG supplementation was associated with reduced antibody responses against tetanus, Hib, and pneumococcal serotypes contained in PCV7 (N = 31) compared to placebo treatment (N = 30) but not total IgG levels. Maternal LGG supplementation was also associated with a trend to increased number of tetanus toxoid-specific T regulatory in the peripheral blood compared to placebo-treated infants. These findings suggest that maternal LGG supplementation may not be beneficial in terms of improving vaccine-specific immunity in infants. Further clinical studies are needed to confirm these findings. As probiotic immune effects can be species/strain specific, our findings do not exclude the potential use of other probiotic bacteria to modulate infant immune responses to vaccines.
Highlights
The success of vaccination as a public health measure is best illustrated by the substantial reductions in rates of infectious diseases such as smallpox, polio, tetanus, and diphtheria following the introduction of these vaccines in the early part of the nineteenth century [1]
MATERNAL Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) SUPPLEMENTATION WAS ASSOCIATED WITH REDUCED VACCINE-SPECIFIC BUT NOT TOTAL IgG RESPONSES IN INFANTS We examined the impact of maternal LGG supplementation on the antibody response to a number of childhood vaccines in ENUMERATION OF Treg IN peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) BY FLOW CYTOMETRY After 6 days of culture, PBMCs were centrifuged at 600 g for 10 min at room temperature and supernatants removed
This study reports that maternal supplementation with the probiotic L. rhamnosus GG (LGG) was able to reduce the levels of vaccine-specific antibodies in infants at 12 months of age
Summary
The success of vaccination as a public health measure is best illustrated by the substantial reductions in rates of infectious diseases such as smallpox, polio, tetanus, and diphtheria following the introduction of these vaccines in the early part of the nineteenth century [1]. Adjuvants are critical components of vaccines as they help the immune system respond to the vaccine by several proposed mechanisms such as immunomodulation, cytokine regulation as well as depot formation, which allows for sustained release at the site of injection to maintain a continual source of immune stimulation [3, 4]. Despite these achievements, there are a number of significant challenges that remain. Continued effort is required to reduce the burden of infectious disease in these settings and it is likely that the combination of increased vaccine coverage as well as the development of novel vaccines and adjuvants will be critical in reducing vaccine-preventable disease globally
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