Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Jul 1;206(1):99-109.
doi: 10.1093/infdis/jis177. Epub 2012 Mar 19.

Probiotics are effective for the prevention and treatment of Citrobacter rodentium-induced colitis in mice

David M Rodrigues  1 , Andrew J Sousa, Kathene C Johnson-Henry, Philip M Sherman, Mélanie G Gareau
Affiliations

Probiotics are effective for the prevention and treatment of Citrobacter rodentium-induced colitis in mice

David M Rodrigues et al. J Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Probiotics prevent disease induced by Citrobacter rodentium, a murine-specific enteric pathogen. Whether probiotics can be used to interrupt the infectious process following initiation of infection was determined.

Methods: C57BL/6 adult and neonatal mice were challenged with C. rodentium, and a probiotic mixture containing Lactobacillus helveticus and Lactobacillus rhamnosus was provided 1 week before bacterial challenge, concurrently with infection, or 3 days and 6 days after infection. Mice were sacrificed 10 days after infection, and disease severity was assessed by histological analysis and in vivo intestinal permeability assay. Inflammatory pathways and the composition of the fecal microbiome were assessed in adult mice.

Results: Preadministration and coadministration of probiotics ameliorated C. rodentium-induced barrier dysfunction, epithelial hyperplasia, and binding of the pathogen to host colonocytes in adults, with similar findings in neonatal mice. Upregulated tumor necrosis factor α and interferon γ transcripts were suppressed in the pretreated probiotic group, whereas interleukin 17 transcription was suppressed with probiotics given up to 3 days after infection. Probiotics promoted transcription of interleukin 10 and FOXP3, and increased follicular T-regulatory cells in pretreatment mice. C. rodentium infection resulted in an altered fecal microbiome, which was normalized with probiotic intervention.

Conclusions: This study provides evidence that probiotics can prevent illness and treat disease in an animal model of infectious colitis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources