Abstract
Inflammatory diseases and stressor-related psychiatric disorders, for which inflammation is a risk factor, are increasing in modern Western societies. Recent studies suggest that immunoregulatory approaches are a promising tool in reducing the risk of suffering from such disorders. Specifically, the environmental saprophyte Mycobacterium vaccae National Collection of Type Cultures (NCTC) 11659 has recently gained attention for the prevention and treatment of stress-related psychiatric disorders. However, effective use requires a sophisticated understanding of the effects of M. vaccae NCTC 11659 and related rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGMs) on microbiome–gut–immune–brain interactions. This historical narrative review is intended as a first step in exploring these mechanisms and provides an overview of preclinical and clinical studies on M. vaccae NCTC 11659 and related RGMs. The overall objective of this review article is to increase the comprehension of, and interest in, the mechanisms through which M. vaccae NCTC 11659 and related RGMs promote stress resilience, with the intention of fostering novel clinical strategies for the prevention and treatment of stressor-related disorders.
Highlights
We aim to provide a narrative review of the research history of these two immunoregulatory mycobacteria in a chronological way, starting with the first observational studies on their promising effects as tuberculosis (TB) vaccines up to the most recent studies indicating that these “old friends” have stress-protective effects and promote stress resilience
The results showed that all three vaccines significantly increased the number of recipients being skin-test positive to leprosin A, the best protection was seen in children receiving Bacillus Calmette–Guèrin (BCG) + M. vaccae National Collection of Type Cultures (NCTC) 11659
Preparations of M. vaccae NCTC 11659 have been shown to be beneficial in a plethora of conditions such as TB, leprosy, psoriasis, dermatitis, allergy, asthma, and several cancers as well as inescapable and chronic psychosocial stress
Summary
“Old friends” fall into three main categories: (1) microorganisms associated with “old infections” that were common in human evolutionary past (helminths, Salmonella, Helicobacter pylori [12,13]); (2) microorganisms that were part of the human microbiota (gut, airway, skin, genitourinary, oropharyngeal; [14,15,16,17]); and (3) harmless microorganisms from the natural environment in water, air, and soil with which humans inevitably had regular contact (reviewed in [18,19]) Two such microorganisms attracting attention for their immunoregulatory effects are Mycobacterium vaccae National Collection of Type Cultures 11659 (M. vaccae NCTC 11659) and Mycobacterium vaccae American Type.
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