Mechanistic Insights into Immune-Microbiota Interactions and Preventive Role of Probiotics Against Autoimmune Diabetes Mellitus

Recent studies on genetically susceptible individuals and animal models revealed the potential role of the intestinal microbiota in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes (T1D) through complex interactions with the immune system. T1D incidence has been increasing exponentially with modern lifestyle altering normal microbiota composition, causing dysbiosis characterized by an imbalance in the gut microbial community. Dysbiosis has been suggested to be a potential contributing factor in T1D. Moreover, several studies have shown the potential role of probiotics in regulating T1D through various mechanisms. Current T1D therapies target curative measures; however, preventive therapeutics are yet to be proven. This review highlights immune microbiota interaction and the immense role of probiotics and postbiotics as important immunological interventions for reducing the risk of T1D.

Fluorescent reporter systems for tracking probiotic lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria

In the last two decades, there has been increasing evidence supporting the role of the intestinal microbiota in health and disease, as well as the use of probiotics to modulate its activity and composition. Probiotic bacteria selected for commercial use in foods, mostly lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria, must survive in sufficient numbers during the manufacturing process, storage, and passage through the gastro-intestinal tract. They have several modes of action and it is crucial to unravel the mechanisms underlying their postulated beneficial effects. To track their survival and persistence, and to analyse their interaction with the gastro-intestinal epithelia it is essential to discriminate probiotic strains from endogenous microbiota. Fluorescent reporter proteins are relevant tools that can be exploited as a non-invasive marker system for in vivo real-time imaging in complex ecosystems as well as in vitro fluorescence labelling. Oxygen is required for many of these reporter proteins to fluoresce, which is a major drawback in anoxic environments. However, some new fluorescent proteins are able to overcome the potential problems caused by oxygen limitations. The current available approaches and the benefits/disadvantages of using reporter vectors containing fluorescent proteins for labelling of bacterial probiotic species commonly used in food are addressed.

Strategies to develop strain-specific PCR based assays for probiotics

Since health benefits conferred by probiotics are strain-specific, identification to the strain level is mandatory to allow the monitoring of the presence and the abundance of specific probiotic in a product or in a gastrointestinal tract. Compared to standard plate counts, the reduced duration of the assays and higher specificity makes PCR-based methods (standard PCR and quantitative PCR) very appropriate for detection or quantification of probiotics. Development of strain-specific assay consists of 4 main stages: (1) strain-specific marker identification; (2) construction of potential strain-specific primers; (3) validation on DNA from pure cultures of target and related strains; and (4) validation on spiked samples. The most important and also the most challenging step is the identification of strain-specific sequences, which can be subsequently targeted by specific primers or probes. Such regions can be identified on sequences derived from 16S-23S internally transcribed spacers, randomly amplified polymorphic DNA, representational difference analysis and suppression subtractive hybridisation. Already known phenotypic or genotypic characteristics of the target strain can also be used to develop the strain-specific assay. However, the initial stage of strain-specific assay development can be replaced by comparative genomics analysis of target genome with related genomes in public databases. Advances in whole genome sequencing (WGS) have resulted in a cost reduction for bacterial genome sequencing and consequently have made this approach available to most laboratories. In the present paper I reviewed the available literature on PCR and qPCR assays developed for detection of a specific probiotic strain and discussed future WGS and comparative genomics-based approaches.

The early settlers: intestinal microbiology in early life

The human intestinal microbiota forms an integral part of normal human physiology, and disturbances of the normal gut microbiology have been implicated in many health and disease issues. Because newborns are essentially sterile, their microbiota must establish and develop from the very first days of life. The first colonizers play an important role in the development of the ecosystem and may impact the long-term composition and activity of the microbiota. These first settlers obviously develop and proliferate dependent on host characteristics and diet, but other factors can also significantly contribute to this vital biological process. Considering the importance of the microbiota for the human immune, metabolic, and neurological systems, it is important to understand the dynamics and driving determinants of this development. This review gives a global overview of our current understanding of the different factors impacting the intestinal microbiology in early life.

Early life: gut microbiota and immune development in infancy

The immune system of infants is actively downregulated during pregnancy and therefore the first months of life represent a period of heightened susceptibility to infection. After birth, there is an age-dependent maturation of the immune system. Exposure to environmental microbial components is suggested to play an important role in the maturation process. The gastrointestinal tract is the major site of interaction between the host immune system and microorganisms, both commensal as well as potentially pathogenic. It is well established that the mammalian immune system is designed to help protect the host from invading microorganisms and other danger signals. However, recent research is emerging in the field of host-microbe interactions showing that commensal microorganisms (microbiota) are most likely one of the drivers of immune development and, in turn the immune system shapes the composition of the microbiota. Specific early microbial exposure of the gut is thought to dramatically reduce the incidence of inflammatory, autoimmune and atopic diseases further fuelling the scientific view that microbial colonisation plays an important role in regulating and fine-tuning the immune system throughout life. Therefore, the use of pre-, pro- and synbiotics may result in a beneficial microbiota composition that might have a pivotal role on the prevention of several important diseases that develop in early life such as necrotizing enterocolitis and atopic eczema.

Is meconium from healthy newborns actually sterile?

In a previous study, bacteria were able to be isolated from umbilical cord blood of healthy neonates and from murine amniotic fluid obtained by caesarean section. This suggested that term fetuses are not completely sterile and that a prenatal mother-to-child efflux of commensal bacteria may exist. Therefore, the presence of such bacteria in meconium of 21 healthy neonates was investigated. The identified isolates belonged predominantly to the genuses Enterococcus and Staphylococcus. Later, a group of pregnant mice were orally inoculated with a genetically labelled E. fecium strain previously isolated from breast milk of a healthy woman. The labelled strain could be isolated and PCR-detected from meconium of the inoculated animals obtained by caesarean section one day before the predicted date of labor. In contrast, it could not be detected in samples obtained from a non-inoculated control group.

A kinetic study on the plasmid stability of three Lactococcus lactis strains

The plasmid stability of three wild type Lactococcus lactis strains and their mutants was investigated at different incubation time and temperatures in two different media [M17 broth and reconstituted skim milk (RSM)]. The results showed that both incubation times and temperature are effective on plasmid loss. The plasmid profiles of wild type strains exhibited 8 to 9 distinct plasmid species with molecular weights from 2.1 to 24.0 kb. Lactose fermentation ability was found to be encoded by 22.2 (strain U70), 23.6 (strain U29) and 24.0 (strain U52) kb plasmids in the wild type strains, respectively. The stabilities of the plasmids were explained by applying a second-order polynomial modeling system. Reasonable fittings were obtained for the model and the adjusted regression coefficients (R ( 2 ) (adj)) were between 0.76 and 0.99 for the overall data. Overall, it was found that incubation time had the most profound effect on plasmid stability, with plasmid loss occurring after 72 h, while temperatures in the range of 15-40 degrees C also induced plasmid instability.

Control of Listeria spp. by competitive-exclusion bacteria in floor drains of a poultry processing plant

In previous studies workers determined that two lactic acid bacterium isolates, Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis C-1-92 and Enterococcus durans 152 (competitive-exclusion bacteria [CE]), which were originally obtained from biofilms in floor drains, are bactericidal to Listeria monocytogenes or inhibit the growth of L. monocytogenes both in vitro and in biofilms at 4 to 37 degrees C. We evaluated the efficacy of these isolates for reducing Listeria spp. contamination of floor drains of a plant in which fresh poultry is processed. Baseline assays revealed that the mean numbers of Listeria sp. cells in floor drains sampled on six different dates (at approximately biweekly intervals) were 7.5 log(10) CFU/100 cm(2) for drain 8, 4.9 log(10) CFU/100 cm(2) for drain 3, 4.4 log(10) CFU/100 cm(2) for drain 2, 4.1 log(10) CFU/100 cm(2) for drain 4, 3.7 log(10) CFU/100 cm(2) for drain 1, and 3.6 log(10) CFU/100 cm(2) for drain 6. The drains were then treated with 10(7) CE/ml in an enzyme-foam-based cleaning agent four times in 1 week and twice a week for the following 3 weeks. In samples collected 1 week after CE treatments were applied Listeria sp. cells were not detectable (samples were negative as determined by selective enrichment culture) for drains 4 and 6 (reductions of 4.1 and 3.6 log(10) CFU/100 cm(2), respectively), and the mean numbers of Listeria sp. cells were 3.7 log(10) CFU/100 cm(2) for drain 8 (a reduction of 3.8 log(10) CFU/100 cm(2)), <1.7 log(10) CFU/100 cm(2) for drain 1 (detectable only by selective enrichment culture; a reduction of 3.3 log(10) CFU/100 cm(2)), and 2.6 log(10) CFU/100 cm(2) for drain 3 (a reduction of 2.3 log(10) CFU/100 cm(2)). However, the aerobic plate counts for samples collected from floor drains before, during, and after CE treatment remained approximately the same. The results indicate that application of the two CE can greatly reduce the number of Listeria sp. cells in floor drains at 3 to 26 degrees C in a facility in which fresh poultry is processed.

Isolation of Commensal Bacteria from Umbilical Cord Blood of Healthy Neonates Born by Cesarean Section

In a previous study, lactic acid bacteria were isolated from meconium obtained from healthy neonates born by cesarean section. Such a finding suggested that term fetuses are not completely sterile, and that a mother-to-child efflux of commensal bacteria may exist. Therefore, presence of such bacteria in umbilical cord blood of healthy neonates born by elective cesarean section was investigated. The blood samples were submitted to an enrichment step and then inoculated onto agar plates. All the identified isolates belonged to the genus Enterococcus, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, or Propionibacterium. Later, a group of pregnant mice were orally inoculated with a genetically labeled E. faecium strain previously isolated from breast milk of a healthy woman. The labeled strain could be isolated and polymerase chain reaction detected from the amniotic fluid of the inoculated animals. In contrast, it could not be detected in the samples obtained from a noninoculated control group.