Impact of previous pregnancy and BMI on cellular and serum immune activity from early to late pregnancy.

Immunological adaptions during pregnancy play a crucial role in healthy fetal development. Aberrant immune modifications however contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes, which may be driven by maternal factors such as previous pregnancies and BMI. This secondary analysis of the MicrobeMom2 RCT investigates the changes to maternal inflammatory biomarkers derived from serum and stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) during pregnancy, and the effects of previous pregnancies (parity) and BMI on maternal immune responses.

Bifidobacterium longum 1714 improves sleep quality and aspects of well-being in healthy adults: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Stress and sleep are linked with overall well-being. Bifidobacterium longum 1714 has been shown to influence stress responses and modulate neural responses during social stress, and influence sleep quality during examination stress in healthy adults. Here, we explored the ability of this strain to alter sleep quality in adults using subjective and objective measures.

Impact of Bifidobacterium longum1714® on maternal cytokine response in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Purpose: The maternal immune system is implicated in adverse pregnancy outcomes. Manipulation of maternal immune response by probiotics holds potential to reduce pregnancy complications. The MicrobeMom2 study investigates the impact of probiotic supplementation on maternal immune responses to pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) during pregnancy.

Detailed mapping of Bifidobacterium strain transmission from mother to infant via a dual culture-based and metagenomic approach.

A significant proportion of the infant gut microbiome is considered to be acquired from the mother during and after birth. Thus begins a lifelong and dynamic relationship with microbes that has an enduring impact on host health. Based on a cohort of 135 mother-infant (F = 72, M = 63) dyads (MicrobeMom: ISRCTN53023014), we investigated the phenomenon of microbial strain transfer, with a particular emphasis on the use of a combined metagenomic-culture-based approach to determine the frequency of strain transfer involving members of the genus Bifidobacterium, including species/strains present at low relative abundance.

Interactions between symptoms and psychological status in irritable bowel syndrome: An exploratory study of the impact of a probiotic combination.

Background: Stress is an exacerbator of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms, and anxiety and depression are co-morbidities. Bifidobacterium longum strains 1714® and 35642® attenuate stress responses in healthy people and reduce symptoms in IBS, respectively. Here, we explore relationships between the psychological and visceral effects of the two strains (COMBO) in IBS subjects and biomarkers of stress and inflammation.

Spermidine and spermine exert protective effects within the lung.

Asthma is a heterologous disease that is influenced by complex interactions between multiple environmental exposures, metabolism, and host immunoregulatory processes. Specific metabolites are increasingly recognized to influence respiratory inflammation. However, the role of protein-derived metabolites in regulating inflammatory responses in the lung are poorly described.

Environment-dependent alterations of immune mediators in urban and rural South African children with atopic dermatitis.

Background: In order to improve targeted therapeutic approaches for children with atopic dermatitis (AD), novel insights into the molecular mechanisms and environmental exposures that differentially contribute to disease phenotypes are required. We wished to identify AD immunological endotypes in South African children from rural and urban environments.

Methods: We measured immunological, socio-economic and environmental factors in healthy children (n = 74) and children with AD (n = 78), in rural and urban settings from the same ethno-linguistic AmaXhosa background in South Africa.

An Exopolysaccharide Produced by Bifidobacterium longum 35624® Inhibits Osteoclast Formation via a TLR2-Dependent Mechanism.

The probiotic Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum 35624® (B. longum 35624®), with its surface exopolysaccharide (EPS624), has previously been demonstrated to induce immunoregulatory responses in the host and may, therefore, be a novel approach to prevent bone loss in inflammatory conditions such as post-menopausal osteoporosis (PMO).

Intranasal Bifidobacterium longum protects against viral-induced lung inflammation and injury in a murine model of lethal influenza infection.

Background: Prophylactic strategies are urgently needed for prevention of severe inflammatory responses to respiratory viral infections. Bacterial-host interactions may modify the immune response to viral infections.

Methods: We examined the contribution of Intranasal administration of two different Bifidobacterium longum strains or its isolated cell wall in controlling viral induced inflammation using a murine model of influenza infection.

Bacterial secretion of histamine within the gut influences immune responses within the lung.

Background: Histamine is an important immunomodulator influencing both the innate and adaptive immune system. Certain host cells express the histidine decarboxylase enzyme (HDC), which is responsible for catalysing the decarboxylation of histidine to histamine. We and others have shown that bacterial strains can also express HDC and secrete histamine; however, the influence of bacterial-derived histamine on the host immune responses distant to the gut is unclear.

Exopolysaccharide from Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum 35624™ modulates murine allergic airway responses.

Interactions between the host and the microbiota are thought to significantly influence immunological tolerance mechanisms at mucosal sites. We recently described that the loss of an exopolysaccharide (EPS) from Bifidobacterium longum 35624™ eliminated its protective effects in colitis and respiratory allergy murine models. Our goal was to investigate the immune response to purified EPS from B.

Histamine receptor 2 modifies iNKT cell activity within the inflamed lung.

Background: Histamine is a key immunoregulatory mediator and can dampen proinflammatory responses via activation of histamine receptor 2 (H R). The aim of this study was to determine the role of H R in modulating lung inflammatory responses.

Methods: H R was blocked using famotidine or activated using dimaprit in both the ovalbumin (OVA) and house dust mite extract (HDM) murine models of respiratory inflammation.

Biology of the Microbiome 1: Interactions with the Host Immune Response.

The intestinal immune system is intimately connected with the vast diversity of microbes present within the gut and the diversity of food components that are consumed daily. The discovery of novel molecular mechanisms, which mediate host-microbe-nutrient communication, have highlighted the important roles played by microbes and dietary factors in influencing mucosal immune responses. Dendritic cells, epithelial cells, innate lymphoid cells, T regulatory cells, effector lymphocytes, natural killer T cells, and B cells can all be influenced by the microbiome.

The Surface-Associated Exopolysaccharide of Bifidobacterium longum 35624 Plays an Essential Role in Dampening Host Proinflammatory Responses and Repressing Local TH17 Responses.

Unlabelled: The immune-modulating properties of certain bifidobacterial strains, such as Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum 35624 (B. longum 35624), have been well described, although the strain-specific molecular characteristics associated with such immune-regulatory activity are not well defined.

Genome Analysis and Characterisation of the Exopolysaccharide Produced by Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum 35624™.

The Bifibobacterium longum subsp. longum 35624™ strain (formerly named Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis) is a well described probiotic with clinical efficacy in Irritable Bowel Syndrome clinical trials and induces immunoregulatory effects in mice and in humans.

Histamine Receptor 2 is Required to Suppress Innate Immune Responses to Bacterial Ligands in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background: Histamine is a key immunoregulatory mediator in immediate-type hypersensitivity reactions and chronic inflammatory responses, in particular histamine suppresses proinflammatory responses to bacterial ligands, through histamine receptor 2 (H2R). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of histamine and H2R on bacteria-induced inflammatory responses in patients with IBD.

Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were obtained from patients with Crohn's disease, patients with ulcerative colitis, and healthy controls.

Human dendritic cell DC-SIGN and TLR-2 mediate complementary immune regulatory activities in response to Lactobacillus rhamnosus JB-1.

The microbiota is required for optimal host development and ongoing immune homeostasis. Lactobacilli are common inhabitants of the mammalian large intestine and immunoregulatory effects have been described for certain, but not all, strains. The mechanisms underpinning these protective effects are beginning to be elucidated.

Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 modulates host inflammatory processes beyond the gut.

Certain therapeutic microbes, including Bifidobacteria infantis (B. infantis) 35624 exert beneficial immunoregulatory effects by mimicking commensal-immune interactions; however, the value of these effects in patients with non-gastrointestinal inflammatory conditions remains unclear. In this study, we assessed the impact of oral administration of B.

Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 administration induces Foxp3 T regulatory cells in human peripheral blood: potential role for myeloid and plasmacytoid dendritic cells.

Background: Intestinal homoeostasis is dependent on immunological tolerance to the microbiota.

Objective: To (1) determine if a probiotic could induce Foxp3 T cells in humans; (2) to elucidate the molecular mechanisms, which are involved in the induction of Foxp3 T cells by human dendritic cells.

Design: Cytokine secretion and Foxp3 expression were assessed in human volunteers following Bifidobacterium infantis feeding.

Bifidobacterium animalis AHC7 protects against pathogen-induced NF-κB activation in vivo.

Background: Bifidobacteria and lactobacilli are among the early and important colonizers of the gastrointestinal tract and are generally considered to be part of a normal, healthy microbiota. It is believed that specific strains within the microbiota can influence host immune-reactivity and may play a role in protection from infection and aberrant inflammatory activity. One such strain, Bifidobacterium animalis AHC7, has been previously shown to protect against Salmonella typhimurium infection in mice and helps resolve acute idiopathic diarrhea in dogs.

Plasma cytokine profiles in females with irritable bowel syndrome and extra-intestinal co-morbidity.

Objectives: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional disorder that is associated with a number of extra-intestinal co-morbidities and a pro-inflammatory profile. This study was designed to examine the cytokine profile among a group of IBS patients with the extra-intestinal co-morbidities fibromyalgia, premenstrual dysmorphic disorder, and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Methods: In all, 100 female IBS patients with these co-morbidities, 21 IBS subjects without co-morbidity ("pure" IBS; Rome II), and 54 age-matched female controls took part in the study.

Listeriolysin S, a novel peptide haemolysin associated with a subset of lineage I Listeria monocytogenes.

Streptolysin S (SLS) is a bacteriocin-like haemolytic and cytotoxic virulence factor that plays a key role in the virulence of Group A Streptococcus (GAS), the causative agent of pharyngitis, impetigo, necrotizing fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. Although it has long been thought that SLS and related peptides are produced by GAS and related streptococci only, there is evidence to suggest that a number of the most notorious Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria, including Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium botulinum and Staphylococcus aureus, produce related peptides. The distribution of the L.