Feeding a diet containing a fructooligosaccharide mix can enhance Salmonella vaccine efficacy in mice.

Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are considered prebiotics because of their ability to promote growth of specific beneficial gut bacteria, such as bifidobacteria. Some studies reported potential immune-modulating properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of FOS:inulin mix on murine response to Salmonella vaccine and evaluate the relevance toward protection against Salmonella infection.

Supplementation of food with Enterococcus faecium (SF68) stimulates immune functions in young dogs.

The gut microflora play a crucial role in several physiologic functions of the host, including maturation of the gut-associated lymphoid tissues during the first months of life. Oral administration of probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) modulates the immune system of humans and some laboratory animals. This effect has never been examined in dogs; therefore, our aim was to study the capacity of a probiotic LAB to stimulate immune functions in young dogs.

Divergent patterns of colonization and immune response elicited from two intestinal Lactobacillus strains that display similar properties in vitro.

Lactobacilli derived from the endogenous flora of normal donors are being increasingly used as probiotics in functional foods and as vaccine carriers. However, a variety of studies done with distinct strains of lactobacilli has suggested heterogeneous and strain-specific effects. To dissect this heterogeneity at the immunological level, we selected two strains of lactobacilli that displayed similar properties in vitro and studied their impact on mucosal and systemic B-cell responses in monoxenic mice.

Novel probiotics for the management of allergic inflammation.

Several pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract, particularly food allergy, are due to an exaggerated and imbalanced response of the gut mucosal immune system. The intestinal microflora is an important constituent of the gut mucosal barrier against food allergens and there is increasing evidence that one important acquired factor predisposing to food allergy in infants is the gut microflora. Indeed, the balance of bifidobacteria versus Clostridia in the neonatal flora appears to determine the allergic status in infants.

Suppression of specific and bystander IgE responses in a mouse model of oral sensitization to beta-lactoglobulin.

Background: Mechanisms of systemic IgE suppression by oral tolerance have been extensively studied, but less is known about oral tolerance induction in mice challenged at mucosal sites. We have previously shown in systemically challenged mice that high-dose tolerance suppressed specific but not bystander IgE. In an attempt to mimic oral tolerance in food-allergic patients, we have investigated how IgE suppression could be induced in mice sensitized orally against beta-lactoglobulin (BLG).