Keyword: IL-4

Effects of Probiotics Lactobacilli on Supporting Adaptive Immune Responses in Helicobacter pylori-Infected Mice

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is recognized as a human gastric pathogen that is a major risk factor for the development of peptic and duodenal ulcers, gastric adenocarcinoma, and lymphoma in humans. Antibiotic treatment is not completely effective due to antibiotic resistance. Probiotics play an important role in regulating the immune system and exert antibacterial effects by producing metabolites. Probiotic strains were administered to infected mice, and immune responses were monitored to investigate their immunomodulatory effects. Pathogen-free male C57BL/6 mice were divided into 6 groups of 5, and treatments were administered. Fourteen days after the last treatment, their spleens were removed, and IFN-γ and IL-4 expression levels were measured by real-time PCR. After treatment of L. acidophilus ATCC4356 and L. rhamnosusPTCC1607, the expression of INF-γ increased, but IL-4 expression was decreased. It can be concluded that the functions of probiotic strains differ. Two probiotics, L. acidophilus ATCC4356 and L. rhamnosus PTCC1607, stimulate interferon-gamma production to increase the phagocytic activity of macrophages and facilitate the differentiation of T cells to Th1.