Abstract
Numerous dietary products are supplemented with probiotics that may be beneficial for human health. Recently, bifidobacteria have received increasing attention as a genus of probiotic bacteria with high efficiency and few side effects. To examine potential effects of different bifidobacteria concentrations on the mucosal immune response, we fed mice with (a) 10(8) colony-forming units (CFU) of bifidobacteria (group 10(8)B), and (b) with 10(12) CFU of bifidobacteria (group 10(12)B) over 42 days and assessed gene expression in intestinal mucosa and immune marker concentrations in serum samples; ten untreated female mice were used as a control. Continuous exposure to 10(8) CFU of bifidobacteria activated both macrophages and T-reg immune cells through significantly increasing the expression of mucosal TLR2 and IL10-mRNA genes, but inhibited Th1 and Th2 cells via significant down-regulation of IL4 and IFN gamma gene expression, compared to untreated mice. Interestingly, group 10(12)B showed down-regulated expression of TLR2, IL10, and IL4 genes but up-regulated expression of IFN gamma, compared to group 10(8)B and to the control. Also, polyclonal immunoglobulins IgG, IgM, and IgA showed a significant increase in all treated mice compared to the control. We conclude that high concentrations of bifidobacteria reduced innate immune functions. Furthermore, adaptive immunity seemed to be enhanced by increasing stimulation of T and B lymphocytes, suggesting aberration of the immune system following intestinal inflammation due to constant exposure to high concentrations of bifidobacteria. Both experimental bifidobacteria concentrations increased the total levels of circulating Igs, particularly of IgA.