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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 295/4/R1131    most recent 90434.2008v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by van der Kleij, H. Articles by Bienenstock, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by van der Kleij, H. Articles by Bienenstock, J.

INFLAMMATION, CYTOKINES, NEUROIMMUNE INTERACTIONS

Protective effects of Lactobacillus reuteri and Bifidobacterium infantis in murine models for colitis do not involve the vagus nerve

¹Brain-Body Institute, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton and Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; and ²Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland

Submitted 20 May 2008 ; accepted in final form 24 July 2008

The vagus nerve is an important pathway signaling immune activation of the gastrointestinal tract to the brain. Probiotics are live organisms that may engage signaling pathways of the brain-gut axis to modulate inflammation. The protective effects of Lactobacillus reuteri (LR) and Bifidobacterium infantis (BI) during intestinal inflammation were studied after subdiaphragmatic vagotomy in acute dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) colitis in BALB/c mice and chronic colitis induced by transfer of CD4⁺ CD62L⁺ T lymphocytes from BALB/c into SCID mice. LR and BI (1 x 10⁹) were given daily. Clinical score, myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels, and in vivo and in vitro secreted inflammatory cytokine levels were found to be more severe in mice that were vagotomized compared with sham-operated animals. LR in the acute DSS model was effective in decreasing the MPO and cytokine levels in the tissue in sham and vagotomized mice. BI had a strong downregulatory effect on secreted in vitro cytokine levels and had a greater anti-inflammatory effect in vagotomized- compared with sham-operated mice. Both LR and BI retained anti-inflammatory effects in vagotomized mice. In SCID mice, vagotomy did not enhance inflammation, but BI was more effective in vagotomized mice than shams. Taken together, the intact vagus has a protective role in acute DSS-induced colitis in mice but not in the chronic T cell transfer model of colitis. Furthermore, LR and BI do not seem to engage their protective effects via this cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway, but the results interestingly show that, in the T cell, transfer model vagotomy had a biological effect, since it increased the effectiveness of the BI in downregulation of colonic inflammation.

vagus; probiotics; colitis; cytokines; mice

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. O'Mahony, H. van der Kleij, J. Bienenstock, F. Shanahan, and L. O'Mahony Loss of vagal anti-inflammatory effect: in vivo visualization and adoptive transfer Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, October 1, 2009; 297(4): R1118 - R1126. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]