Bacillus cereus, considered a worldwide human food-borne pathogen, has brought serious health risks to humans and animals and huge losses to animal husbandry. The plethora of diverse toxins and drug resistance are the focus for B. cereus. As an alternative treatment to antibiotics, probiotics can effectively alleviate the hazards of super bacteria, food safety, and antibiotic resistance. This study aimed to investigate the frequency and distribution of B. cereus in dairy cows and to evaluate the effects of Lactobacillus rhamnosus in a model of endometritis induced by multi-drug-resistant B. cereus. A strong poisonous strain with a variety of drug resistances was used to establish an endometrial epithelial cell infection model. B. cereus was shown to cause damage to the internal structure, impair the integrity of cells, and activate the inflammatory response, while L. rhamnosus could inhibit cell apoptosis and alleviate this damage. This study indicates that the B. cereus-induced activation of the NLRP3 signal pathway involves K+ efflux. We conclude that LGR-1 may relieve cell destruction by reducing K+ efflux to the extracellular caused by the perforation of the toxins secreted by B. cereus on the cell membrane surface.
Keywords: Bacillus cereus; K+ efflux; inflammasome; multidrug resistance; probiotics.