Heliyon (Apr 2024)

The effect of probiotic Bifidobacterium lactis Bl-04 on innate antiviral responses in vitro

  • Sinikka Latvala,
  • Markus J. Lehtinen,
  • Sanna M. Mäkelä,
  • Derek Nedveck,
  • Bryan Zabel,
  • Ilmari Ahonen,
  • Liisa Lehtoranta,
  • Ronald B. Turner,
  • Jenni Liljavirta

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 8
p. e29588

Abstract

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Consumption of certain probiotic strains may be beneficial for reducing the risk of acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), however, underlying immunological mechanisms are elusive. Bifidobacterium lactis Bl-04™ has been reported in humans to significantly reduce the risk of URTIs, affect the innate immunity in the nasal mucosa, and reduce nasal lavage virus titer after a rhinovirus (RV) challenge. To study the immunological mechanisms, we investigated the effect of Bl-04 on cytokine production and transcriptomes of human monocyte-derived macrophages (Mfs) and dendritic cells (DCs), and further on RV replication and cytokine production in MRC-5 fibroblasts. The results showed that Bl-04 modulates antiviral immune responses and potentiates cytokine production during viral challenge mimic in immune cells. However, effect of Bl-04 on RV replication and cytokine production in fibroblasts was negligible. Overall, the findings suggest that Bl-04 mildly stimulates antiviral immunity in Mfs and DCs, and potentially influences viral replication in fibroblasts that however warrants further investigations.