Open AccessPectin- Derived Acidic Oligosaccharides Improve the Outcome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Lung Infection in C57BL/6 Mice
Author(s) -
H. Bernard,
JeanLuc Desseyn,
Frédéric Gottrand,
Bernd Stahl,
Nana Bartke,
Marie-Odile Husson
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0139686
Subject(s) - microbiology and biotechnology , immune system , pseudomonas aeruginosa , lung , immunology , inflammation , lung infection , biology , chemistry , medicine , bacteria , genetics
The administration of prebiotics as oligosaccharides (OS), by acting on intestinal microbiota, could modulate the immune and inflammatory response and represent a new strategy to improve the outcome of bacterial infection. The aim of this study was to determine whether pectin-derived acidic oligosaccharides (pAOS) could modulate the outcome of pulmonary P . aeruginosa (PA) infection in C57BL/6 mice, which develop a Th1 response to PA lung infection. Mice were randomized for 5 weeks to consume a control or a 5% pAOS diet and chronically infected by PA. Resistance to a second PA infection was also analyzed by reinfecting the surviving mice 2 weeks after the first infection. Compared with control mice, mice fed pAOS had reduced mortality ( P <0.05). This improvement correlated with a better control of the inflammatory response with a lower neutrophil count on day 1 ( P <0.05), a sustained neutrophil and macrophage recruitment on days 2 and 3 ( P <0.01) a greater and sustained IL-10 release in lung ( P <0.05) and a reduction of the Th1 response and M1 activation with a lower IFN-γ/IL-4 ( P <0.01) and nos2/arg1 ( P <0.05) ratios. These results coincided with a modulation of the intestinal microbiota as shown by an increased butyric acid concentration in feces ( P <0.05). Moreover, pAOS decreased the bacterial load ( P <0.01) in mice reinfected 2 weeks after the first infection, suggesting that pAOS could reduce pulmonary exacerbations. In conclusion, pAOS improved the outcome of PA infection in C57BL/6 mice by modulating the intestinal microbiota and the inflammatory and immune responses.