Orally Administered Lactobacillus paracasei KW3110 Induces in Vivo IL 12 Production

Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2009 Jul 7. [Epub ahead of print]

Orally Administered Lactobacillus paracasei KW3110 Induces in Vivo IL-12 Production.

Ichikawa S, Miyake M, Fujii R, Konishi Y. Central Laboratories for Frontier Technology, Kirin Holdings Co., Ltd.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are popularly used as probiotics, and some strains of LAB have anti-allergic functions in vivo. Although in vitro studies show that LAB modulate the T helper type (Th) 1/Th2 balance and inhibit IgE secretion by inducing IL-12, it is not known how LAB regulates allergies in vivo. In this study, we evaluated in vivo IL-12 production after oral administration of Lactobacillus paracasei KW3110, a strain reported to improve allergies, to mice. Orally administered KW3110 interacted with CD11b positive cells and induced IL-12 mRNA expression at Peyer's patch. In addition, blood IL-12 levels increased transiently 10 h after administration of KW3110. Based on these results, we found that oral administration of KW3110 induces IL-12 in vivo. Our findings should contribute to understanding of the in vivo function of LAB.

PMID: 19584541 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]