Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has become a growing health concern, as evident from the increase in the mortality rate among elderly or hospitalized patients. Treatment of CDI is usually based on antibiotics (metronidazole and vancomycin), but it has some limitations, including cost and antibiotic resistance. Probiotics could offer an effective remedy to prevent CDI and could be an auxiliary agent in treatment CDI. Here, the anti-clostridial activity of a newly isolated probiotic strain, Pediococcus acidilactici SPM138 (SPM138) was evaluated. The cultivation of C. difficile (CD) with SPM138, inhibited the growth of CD and significantly reduced CD toxins level. The result of MTT assay showed that, incubation with 25% CD culture supernatant decreased the survival rate of HT-29 cells to less than 20%. However, the survival rate of these cells increased to 98% in the presence of the 25% CD + SPM138 supernatant. The mRNA expression of IL-6, IL-8 and PTGS2 in HT-29 cells decreased by more than 60% upon incubation with CD + SPM138 co-cultures as compared to the levels observed after treatment with CD supernatant only. The concentration of IL-8 also decreased by more than 60% upon treatment with CD + SPM138 co-culture supernatant. In a C. difficile PCR ribotype 027-infected mouse model, the concentration of CD toxin in stool samples of SPM138-fed mice was only 37% of that reported in C. difficile 027-infected group. These findings show that P. acidilactici SPM138 may be a promising probiotic in CDI.
Keywords: Clostridium difficile infection; IL-6; IL-8; PTGS2; Pediococcus acidilactici SPM138.
Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.