Beneficial effect of auto-aggregating Lactobacillus crispatus on experimentally induced colitis in mice.

We tested the therapeutic relevance of auto aggregation in lactobacilli by comparing the effect on DSS induced colitis of viable Lactobacillus crispatus M247, isolated from healthy humans, to L. crispatus MU5, an isogenic spontaneous mutants of M247, the latter lacking the auto aggregation phenotype which allows the adhesion to human mucus. Aggregating L.

Lymphocytes endowed with colon-selective homing and engineered to produce TGF-beta1 prevent the development of dinitrobenzene sulphonic acid colitis.

Background: Gene therapy is an attractive approach to the treatment of inflammatory diseases. However, the lack of tissue targeting of available vectors jeopardizes their clinical use.

Aims: Since alpha4beta7 integrin mediates lymphocyte homing to the intestinal mucosa, we tested the possibility of in-vitro engineering alpha4beta7-bearing lymphocytes to restrict the production of a therapeutic cytokine, transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1, to within the colonic mucosa.