Pectin-Derived Acidic Oligosaccharides Improve the Outcome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Lung Infection in C57BL/6 Mice

PLoS One. 2015 Nov 23;10(11):e0139686. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0139686. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

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.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bacterial Load / immunology
  • Diet
  • Fatty Acids, Volatile / metabolism
  • Feces / chemistry
  • Lung Diseases / complications
  • Lung Diseases / drug therapy*
  • Lung Diseases / immunology
  • Lung Diseases / microbiology*
  • Male
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Oligosaccharides / therapeutic use*
  • Pectins / chemistry*
  • Pneumonia / complications
  • Pneumonia / drug therapy
  • Pneumonia / immunology
  • Pneumonia / microbiology
  • Pseudomonas Infections / complications
  • Pseudomonas Infections / drug therapy*
  • Pseudomonas Infections / immunology
  • Pseudomonas Infections / microbiology*
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa
  • Survival Analysis
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Fatty Acids, Volatile
  • Oligosaccharides
  • Pectins

Grants and funding

The study was funded by grants from the French Association "Vaincre la Mucoviscidose": grant number 2009/IC0916, 2010/IC1018) for purchasing mice and materials, and Nutricia Research for providing the experimental diets. The Funder Nutritia Research provided also support in the form of the salary of H. B., but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and other analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of the two authors (N.B. and B.S.) of Nutritia Research are articulated in the 'author contributions' section.