Probiotics Exhibit Strain-Specific Protective Effects in T84 Cells Challenged With Clostridioides difficile-Infected Fecal Water

• Published in: Frontiers in microbiology Vol. 12; p. 698638
• Main Authors: Gaisawat, Mohd Baasir, Lopez-Escalera, Silvia, MacPherson, Chad W., Iskandar, Michèle M., Tompkins, Thomas A., Kubow, Stan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 26.01.2022
• Subjects: C. difficile; cytokines; cytotoxicity; inflammation; Microbiology; probiotics; T84 cells; gastrointestinal model (GI); C. difficile; inflammation; T84 cells; cytokines; cytotoxicity; fecal water; probiotics
• ISSN: 1664-302X; 1664-302X
• DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.698638

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is frequently associated with intestinal injury and mucosal barrier dysfunction, leading to an inflammatory response involving neutrophil localization and upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The severity of clinical manifestations is associated with the extent of the immune response, which requires mitigation for better clinical management. Probiotics could play a protective role in this disorder due to their immunomodulatory ability in gastrointestinal disorders. We assessed five single-strain and three multi-strain probiotics for their ability to modulate CDI fecal water (FW)-induced effects on T84 cells. The CDI-FW significantly ( p < 0.05) decreased T84 cell viability. The CDI-FW-exposed cells also exhibited increased pro-inflammatory cytokine production as characterized by interleukin (IL)-8, C-X-C motif chemokine 5, macrophage inhibitory factor (MIF), IL-32, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) ligand superfamily member 8. Probiotics were associated with strain-specific attenuation of the CDI-FW mediated effects, whereby Saccharomyces boulardii CNCM I-1079 and Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus R0011 were most effective in reducing pro-inflammatory cytokine production and in increasing T84 cell viability. ProtecFlor™, Lactobacillus helveticus R0052, and Bifidobacterium longum R0175 showed moderate effectiveness, and L. rhamnosus GG R0343 along with the two other multi-strain combinations were the least effective. Overall, the findings showed that probiotic strains possess the capability to modulate the CDI-mediated inflammatory response in the gut lumen.