Journal of Functional Foods (Jun 2016)

Lactococcus lactis JCM5805 activates anti-viral immunity and reduces symptoms of common cold and influenza in healthy adults in a randomized controlled trial

  • Takeo Shibata,
  • Masaya Kanayama,
  • Munetaka Haida,
  • Shuhei Fujimoto,
  • Takashige Oroguchi,
  • Kenji Sata,
  • Nobutaka Mita,
  • Tomoko Kutsuzawa,
  • Mayumi Ikeuchi,
  • Mayu Kondo,
  • Kimitoshi Naito,
  • Michio Tsuda,
  • Yasuhiro Nishizaki,
  • Naoaki Ishii

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 24
pp. 492 – 500

Abstract

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The effects of heat-killed Lactococcus lactis JCM5805 (JCM5805) on the pathogenesis of common cold and influenza were evaluated. A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded study was conducted and 396 healthy subjects (placebo group n = 205, JCM5805 group n = 191) completed the intervention. Subjects consumed placebo capsules or JCM5805 capsules containing approximately 100 billion cells of heat-killed JCM5805 per day for 12 wk. Significantly fewer incident days were observed in the JCM5805 group than in the placebo group for the symptoms of sore throat (p < 0.05) and cough (p < 0.001). Cell surface expression of HLA-DR on plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) and the expression of VIPERIN in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were higher post-intervention compared to baseline in the JCM5805 group only (p < 0.05). The expression of IFNA in PBMCs was significantly higher in the JCM5805 group (p < 0.05). These data suggest that the intake of heat-killed JCM5805 stimulated pDC-related anti-viral immunity to mitigate the incidence of common cold and influenza symptoms.

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