Effect of lactic acid bacteria on Listeria monocytogenes infection and innate immunity in rabbits

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) addition on Listeria monocytogenes translocation and its toxin listeriolysin O (LLO), proinflammatory factors, immune organ indexes and serum immunoglobulins in farmed rabbits. Five treatments included negative control (NC), positive control (PC) with L. monocytogenes infection and supplemental LAB at 3.0 × 10<sup>6 </sup>(low-LAB, L-LAB), 3.0 × 10<sup>8</sup> (medium-LAB, M-LAB) and 3.0 × 10<sup>10 </sup>(high-LAB, H-LAB) CFU/kg of diet, respectively. The LAB was a mixture of equal amounts of Lactobacillus acidophilus (ACCC11073), Lactobacillus plantarum (CICC21863) and Enterococcus faecium (CICC20430). A total of 180 weaned rabbits (negative for L. monocytogenes) were randomly assigned to 5 groups with 6 replicates of 6 rabbits each in response to the 5 treatments. L. monocytogenes infection occurred on the first day of feeding trial and dietary LAB supplementation lasted for 14 days. The results showed that on days 7 and 14 post administration, L. monocytogenes in caecum, liver, spleen and lymph nodes was reduced in M-LAB and H-LAB compared to PC (P < 0.05), and linear and quadratic reducing trends were found in liver on day 7 (P ≤ 0.002). On day 14, mucosa LLO mRNA expression and serum TNFα, IL1β and IFNγ were reduced in the three LAB treatments (P < 0.05), and linear and quadratic trends were found on TNFα and IL1β (P ≤ 0.025); indexes of thymus and spleen, serum IgA and IgG were increased in the LAB treatments (P < 0.05). It is concluded that LAB can be used to alleviate L. monocytogenes infection and to improve the immune function of farmed animals.

Effect of dietary Lactobacilli mixture on Listeria monocytogenes infection and virulence property in broilers

“…In the present study, the mortalities between treatments were not statistically different (data not shown), and the growth performance was not measured due to the short duration of feeding trial, but the symptoms of birds in the control treatment were consistent with the known knowledge that animals suffered from listeriosis showed some clinical signs such as restlessness, loss of appetite, fever, and nervous system disorders ( Papić et al., 2019 , Zhao et al., 2020 ). Notably, dietary Lactobacilli significantly inhibited L. monocytogenes proliferation in the gastrointestinal tract and its invasion into other critical organs in broilers.…”

“…Serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IFN-γ, and anti-inflammatory IL-4, IL-10 changed linearly or quadratically both at the initial and final phases of broilers fed with E. faecium NCIMB 11181 ( Wu et al., 2019 ). Mucosa listeriolysin O mRNA expression and serum TNFα, IL1β, and IFNγ were reduced by a cocktail of L. acidophilus , L. plantarum , and E. faecium , but indexes of thymus and spleen, serum IgA, and IgG were increased in farm rabbits ( Zhao et al., 2020 ). Anyway, the interrelation among virulence property of pathogens, inflammatory response of hosts, and the probiotics deserves more studies.…”

“…Possible action mechanisms of probiotics are involved in the modulation of intestinal barrier, defensin, inflammation, short-chain fatty acids, as well as cell interactions with hosts and pathogens ( Markowiak and Śliżewska, 2017 , Wang et al., 2019a , Wang et al., 2019b ). In recent studies, probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus acidophilus have been shown a significant anti-listerial activity ( Ehsani et al., 2019 , Reuben et al., 2019 , Van Zyl et al., 2019 , Zhao et al., 2020 ). However, whether probiotics influence the activities of virulence factors of pathogens including L. monocytogenes remains mostly unclear.…”

Lactobacillus acidophilus reduces Listeria monocytogenes infection by inhibiting mitogen-activated protein kinase genes in growing rabbits

“…Sometimes, animals can carry L. monocytogenes without appearing sick, and shed the bacteria in their feces (Papić et al, 2019). Rabbit meat with low fat and high proteins is becoming popular (Dalle Zotte and Szendrő, 2011;Ding et al, 2019a;Wang et al, 2019b,c); however, investigations show that farm rabbits are susceptible to L. monocytogenes and their meat is also a source of listerial foodborne pathogen (Rodríguez-Calleja et al, 2006;De Cesare et al, 2017;Zhao et al, 2020).…”

“…Lactobacillus acidophilus reduces Listeria monocytogenes infection by inhibiting mitogen-activated protein... Zhao et al that dietary lactic acid bacteria attenuated listerial infection and virulence but improved innate immunity in rabbits (Zhao et al, 2020) and broilers (Deng et al, 2020). Host mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) links multiple signaling pathways in response to a myriad of stimuli including bacterial infections.…”