Lactobacillus rhamnoides alleviates liver graft-versus-host disease after transplantation of hematopoietic stem cell through regulating intestinal microbiota

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect and mechanism of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG strain(LGG) on liver graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Methods Mice were randomly divided into three groups, including control, GVHD (the donor-derived bone marrow and spleen cell suspension were reinfused through the tail vein), and LGG groups (LGG gavage after modeling, 200 μL/mouse, twice a week for 5 weeks). The pathological changes of liver tissues were observed by HE staining, the liver function and the levels of plasma cytokines IL-6, IL-18 and TNF-α were detected by ELISA, and the changes of intestinal microbiota were detected by PCR. Results Compared with mice in the control group, mice in GVHD group showed shorter survival time, obvious liver function damage and pathological changes, increased level of plasma cytokines IL-6, IL-18 and TNF-α (P＜0.01) and decreased intestinal microbiota diversity(P＜0.05). LGG treatment significantly alleviated the pathological changes induced by GVHD in the liver (P＜0.05). Conclusions LGG can reduce the level of inflammatory factors in liver by regulating the intestinal microbiota, thereby alleviate GVHD in mice after HSCT, suggesting that LGG may be useful in the treatment of GVHD.

Keywords

• hematopoietic stem cell transplantation|liver graft-versus-host disease|intestinal microbiota|inflammatory factor