Oral and nasal probiotic administration for the prevention and alleviation of allergic diseases, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Interaction between a healthy microbiome and the immune system leads to body homeostasis, as dysbiosis in microbiome content and loss of diversity may result in disease development. Due to the ability of probiotics to help and modify microbiome constitution, probiotics are now widely used for the prevention and treatment of different gastrointestinal, inflammatory, and, more recently, respiratory diseases. In this regard, chronic respiratory diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and allergic rhinitis are among the most common and complicated respiratory diseases with no specific treatment until now. Accordingly, many studies have evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of probiotic administration (mostly via the oral route and much lesser nasal route) on chronic respiratory diseases. We tried to summarise and evaluate these studies to give a perspective of probiotic therapy via both the oral and nasal routes for respiratory infections (in general) and chronic respiratory diseases (specifically). We finally concluded that probiotics might be useful for allergic diseases. For asthmatic patients, probiotics can modulate serum cytokines and IgE and decrease eosinophilia, but with no significant reduction in clinical symptoms. For COPD, only limited studies were found with uncertain clinical efficacy. For intranasal administration, although some studies propose more efficiency than the oral route, more clinical evaluations are warranted.

The Potential Role of Probiotics in Protection against Influenza a Virus Infection in Mice

“…It has been reported that probiotic with regulating the balance of intestinal microecology exerts prophylactic and alleviating effects on diseases, such as allergic asthma [ 20 , 21 ], atopic dermatitis [ 22 , 23 ], and influenza infection [ 24 , 25 ], but the correlation between clinical characters of influenza infection and gut microbial alteration needs to be explained. Based on the gut–lung axis theory, the bi-directional cross-talk between lung and gut intricately influences the homeostasis of both [ 26 ], and therefore, the deeper understanding of gut microbial alteration on alleviating respiratory disorders contributes to therapeutic applications using probiotic strains.…”

Mediterranean Diet to Prevent the Development of Colon Diseases: A Meta-Analysis of Gut Microbiota Studies

“…The modern Paleolithic diet (PD) is a different approach characterized by a high intake of vegetables, fruits, nuts, eggs, fish and meat, minimizing that of grains, cereals, legumes, dairy products, and processed foods [ 14 ]. Recently, it has sparked increasing interest due to its alleged beneficial effects on the prevention and treatment of diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ].…”

Aerosol Inhalation of Heat-Killed Clostridium butyricum CGMCC0313-1 Alleviates Allergic Airway Inflammation in Mice

“…Airway mucosal immunity has some potential benefits such as painlessness, simplicity, low dose, good tolerance, and safety [ 28 ]. Many studies have indicated that nasal probiotic administration can efficiently regulate the immune response in several chronic respiratory diseases, including allergic rhinitis, asthma, and chronic pulmonary obstructive disease, sometimes more effective than the oral route [ 6 , 29 ]. However, there are questions about the safety of nasal probiotics administration, as it can easily cause lung infection or bacteremia.…”

“…Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that exposure to an environment rich in beneficial microorganisms can reduce the risk of asthma [ 4 , 5 ]. These protective microorganisms may regulate the immune system through the respiratory tract or intestine, providing protection against asthma [ 4 , 6 ]. Probiotics are a set of living nonpathogenic microorganisms that confer beneficial effects on the health of the host when administered in adequate quantities [ 7 ].…”

“…Probiotics are a set of living nonpathogenic microorganisms that confer beneficial effects on the health of the host when administered in adequate quantities [ 7 ]. Several animal studies have shown a clear preventive and therapeutic effect of probiotics against asthma, but so far, clinical trials have shown ambiguous results [ 6 , 7 ]. Recently, a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials indicated that orally administration probiotics, such as Lactobacilli or Bifidobacteria , did not prevent asthma in infants [ 8 ].…”