A Pilot Study on Clinical Scores, Immune Cell Modulation, and Microbiota Composition in Allergic Patients with Rhinitis and Asthma Treated with a Probiotic Preparation

Abstract

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Specific drugs and/or immunotherapies are widely used to treat allergies, but drug-induced adverse effects recently led to explore new additional strategies. We studied whether a probiotic preparation (iPROB®; Anallergo SpA, Florence, Italy) is effective in allergic patients and the mechanisms underlying clinical outcomes. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Eligible patients (<i>n</i> = 28), all suffering from allergic rhinitis with/without bronchial asthma, were consecutively recruited at the Allergology Medical Unit (Novara, Italy) and treated with this probiotic. From each patient, we collected blood and stool samples at the baseline, after 60 days of probiotic supplementation, and after 60 days from probiotic discontinuation. In each blood sample, the percentage of hematopoietic stem cells, eosinophils, and basophils was measured by FACS. To analyze stool microbiota composition, genomic DNA was extracted, bacterial 16S DNA libraries sequenced by Illumina platform (Miseq), and raw sequences processed. Generated data were statistically analyzed. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Probiotic-treated patients showed a significant decrease in Average Rhinitis Total Symptom Score (<i>d</i> = −10.5714), and Visual Analog Scale (<i>d</i> = −2.00) clinical indices, as well as important improvements in quality of life. In whole blood, a significant reduction in the percentage of activated eosinophils and basophils was determined, and this effect persisted after specific cell stimulation. Consistently, the serum levels of IL-4 and IL-5 decreased after probiotic treatment, suggesting a reduction in the Th2 cytokine profile. In addition, microbiome genomic analysis (<i>n</i> = 6) showed an increase in microbiome biodiversity, which positively correlates with clinical and cellular data. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Present study suggests that iPROB® preparation has clinical/biological properties to be a valid add-on supplementation in allergic patients with asthma and rhinitis.

Probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum GUANKE effectively alleviates allergic rhinitis symptoms by modulating functions of various cytokines and chemokines

“…Kang et al ( 19 ) reported that 4 weeks treatment with probiotic NVP-1703 (a mixture of Bifidobacterium longum and Lactobacillus plantarum ) alleviated perennial AR mediated by IgE and IL-10. Torre et al ( 20 ) used iPROB ® probiotic preparation (Anallergo SpA, Florence, Italy) to treat AR patients for 60 days and found a significant decrease in Average Rhinitis Total Symptom Score and improvement in quality of life. In animal studies, Choi et al ( 21 ) found that oral administration of Lactobacillus plantarum (CJLP133 and CJLP243) improved the symptoms and reduced the inflammation in a birch pollen-induced AR mouse model.…”

Association between constipation and the development of asthma: a meta-analysis

“…Therapeutic managements of constipation are increasingly incorporating prebiotics, probiotics or synbiotics with a view to regulating the intestinal microflora and suppressing both allergic and autoimmune responses [28]. Probiotics/prebiotics/ synbiotics appear to have promising therapeutic effects for improving symptoms in people with asthma and allergies [29][30][31]. However, some mechanisms underlying intestinal microflora mediated regulation of immune responses being described are bacterial strain or metabolite specific, and should not be extrapolated to other probiotics or prebiotics.…”

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial: Efficacy of Opuntia ficus-indica Prebiotic Supplementation in Subjects with Gut Dysbiosis

“…During the taxonomic assignment process, only reads with a minimum sequence length that aligned with a reference ≥ 80% and a similarity threshold ≥ 97% were associated with the species taxonomic level. Finally, the software provides absolute and relative abundance tables and three input files (OTU, taxonomy, and metadata) for the subsequent statistical analyses with MicrobiomeAnalyst [ 24 , 25 ].…”