Not only for Christmas: Prophylactic oral application of trans-cinnamaldehyde alleviates acute murine campylobacteriosis.

Abstract

The prevalence of Campylobacter jejuni infections is increasing worldwide and responsible for significant morbidities and socioeconomic expenses. The rise in antimicrobial resistance of C. jejuni underscoresthe urge for evaluating antibiotics-independent compounds as therapeutic and preventive treatment options of human campylobacteriosis. Given its well-known anti-microbial and immune-modulatory properties we here surveyed the disease-modifying effects of trans-cinnamaldehyde pretreatment in experimental campylobacteriosis. Therefore, secondary abiotic IL-10-/- mice were orally challenged with trans-cinnamaldehyde starting 7 days prior C. jejuni infection. Whereas gastrointestinal colonization properties of the enteropathogens remained unaffected, trans-cinnamaldehyde pretreatment did not only improve clinical signs in infected mice, but also alleviated colonicepithelial cell apoptosis on day 6 post-infection. Furthermore, trans-cinnamaldehyde application resulted in less pronounced T cell responses in the colon that were accompanied bydampened proinflammatory mediator secretion in distinct intestinal compartments. Notably, theimmune-modulatory effects of trans-cinnamaldehyde were not restricted to the intestinal tract butcould also be observed in extra-intestinal organs such as the liver and kidneys. In conclusion, ourpreclinical placebo-controlled intervention study provides first evidence that due to its immune-modulatory effects, trans-cinnamaldehyde constitutes a promising prophylactic option to alleviate campylobacteriosis.