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

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

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e29588

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

Heliyon. 2024 Apr 15;10(8):e29588. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e29588. eCollection 2024 Apr 30.

Authors

Sinikka Latvala¹, Markus J Lehtinen¹, Sanna M Mäkelä¹, Derek Nedveck², Bryan Zabel², Ilmari Ahonen³, Liisa Lehtoranta¹, Ronald B Turner⁴, Jenni Liljavirta¹

Affiliations

¹ IFF Health & Biosciences, Kantvik, 02460, Finland.
² IFF Health & Biosciences, Madison, WI, 53716, USA.
³ Vincit Ltd, Turku, 20500, Finland.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, 22903, USA.

Abstract

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.