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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BHNRC) » Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center » Diet, Genomics and Immunology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #333423
Title: Lactobacillus rhamnosus LGG and flavanol-enriched cocoa powder altered the immune response to infection with the parasitic nematode Ascaris suum

Author
item Jang, Saebyeol
item Lakshman, Sukla
item Beshah, Ethiopia
item XIE, YUE - Sichuan University
item Molokin, Aleksey
item Vinyard, Bryan
item Urban, Joseph
item DAVIS, CINDY - National Institutes Of Health (NIH)
item Solano-Aguilar, Gloria

Submitted to: Nutrients
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/1/2017
Publication Date: 10/12/2017
Citation: Jang, S., Lakshman, S., Beshah, E., Xie, Yue, Molokin, A., Vinyard, B.T., Urban Jr, J.F., Davis, C., Solano Aguilar, G. 2017. Lactobacillus rhamnosus LGG and flavanol-enriched cocoa powder altered the immune response to infection with the parasitic nematode Ascaris suum. Nutrients. pii: 1113. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9101113.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9101113

Interpretive Summary: Consumption of probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus rhamnosus LGG (LGG) and cocoa powder enriched in flavanols have demonstrated immune modulating effects. This study compared the host response to the parasite Ascaris suum in three month old male pigs fed a corn, alfalfa, soy-based diet supplemented with 1) a fiber-maltodextrin (vehicle control), 2) LGG (1 x 1010 cfu LGG/day), 3) cocoa powder (26 grams of flavanol-enriched cocoa powder/day) or 4) LGG + cocoa powder. The pigs were infected with A. suum eggs during week 5 of the diet treatments and euthanized 17 days later. Fecal samples were collected and processed to determine abundance of Lactobacillus rhamnossus and A. suum larvae recovered from the small intestine as well as determination of systemic antibodies against A. suum. Cytokine and chemokine gene expression in various tissues such as tracheal/bronchial lymph nodes (TBLNs), jejunum, mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs), and LPS-induced alveolar macrophages (AM) was determined by PCR. The results indicated an increase in fecal Lactobacillus abundance in pigs fed LGG, independent of feeding cocoa powder, with a decrease in specific anti-A. suum IgG2 antibodies in LGG + -cocoa powder fed pigs compared to pigs fed cocoa powder alone (P<0.05). Pigs fed LGG had a reduced expression of Eosinophil peroxidase (EPX), Interleukin 13 (IL-13), Eotaxin 3 (CCL26), Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), TLR4, and TLR9 gene expression in the TBLN, while feeding LGG + cocoa powder only reduced IL13 and TLR9 in the TBLN. Ex-vivo stimulation of AM showed that LPS-induced tumor necrosis factor a (TNFA) gene expression was enhanced in pigs fed LGG + cocoa powder. Overall, this study demonstrated that feeding LGG significantly reduced several inflammatory and prototypical Th2-related markers of A. suum infection locally in the TBLN which were not significantly modified by feeding cocoa powder.

Technical Abstract: Consumption of probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus rhamnosus LGG (LGG) and prebiotic flavanol-enriched cocoa (cocoa powder) have purported immune modulating effects. This study compared the host response to the parasitic nematode Ascaris suum in three month old male pigs fed a corn, alfalfa, soy-based diet supplemented with 1) a fiber-maltodextrin (vehicle control), 2) LGG (1 x 1010 cfu LGG/day), 3) cocoa powder (26 grams of flavanol-enriched cocoa powder/day) or 4) LGG + cocoa powder. The pigs were inoculated with infective A. suum eggs during week 5 of the diet treatments and euthanized 17 days later. Fecal specimens were collected and processed to determine Lactobacillus rhamnossus abundance and A. suum fourth-stage larvae (L4) recovery from the small intestine as well as determination of systemic anti-A. suum antibodies in the serum. Cytokine and chemokine gene expression from tracheal/bronchial lymph nodes (TBLNs), jejunum, mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs), and LPS-induced alveolar macrophages (AM) was determined by PCR. The results indicated an increase in fecal Lactobacillus abundance in pigs fed LGG, independent of feeding cocoa powder, with a decrease in specific anti-A. suum IgG2 antibodies in LGG + -cocoa powder fed pigs compared to pigs fed cocoa powder alone (P<0.05). Pigs fed LGG had significantly reduced (P<0.05) Eosinophil peroxidase (EPX), Interleukin 13 (IL-13), Eotaxin 3 (CCL26), Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), TLR4, and TLR9 gene expression in the TBLN, while feeding LGG + cocoa powder only reduced IL13 and TLR9 in the TBLN. Ex-vivo stimulation of AM showed that LPS-induced tumor necrosis factor a (TNFA) gene expression was enhanced in pigs fed LGG + cocoa powder (P<0.05). Overall, this study demonstrated that feeding LGG significantly reduced several inflammatory and prototypical Th2-related markers of A. suum infection locally in the TBLN which were not significantly modified by feeding cocoa powder.