Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. typhimurium) is an important foodborne pathogen that infects both humans and animals and develops acute gastroenteritis. As porcine intestines are relatively similar to the human ones due to their relatively similar sizes and structural similarity, S. typhimurium causes analogous symptoms in both. Novel strategies for controlling S. typhimurium infection are also desired, such as mucosal-targeted delivery of probiotics and antimicrobial peptides. The bovine lactoferricin-lactoferrampin-encoding Limosilactobacillus reuteri (LR-LFCA) strain improves intestinal barrier function by strengthening the intestinal barrier. Weaned piglets were selected for oral administration of microencapsulated LR-LFCA (microcapsules entrap LR-LFCA into gastro-resistant polymers) and then infected with S. typhimurium for 3 days. We found that orally administering microencapsulated LR-LFCA to weaned piglets attenuated S. typhimurium-induced production of inflammatory factors in the intestinal mucosa by inhibiting the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and P38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) signaling pathway. Moreover, microencapsulated LR-LFCA administration significantly suppressed the oxidative stress that may correlate with gut microbiota (reduced Salmonella population and increased α-diversity and Lactobacillus abundance) and intestinal function (membrane transport and metabolism). Our work demonstrated that microencapsulated LR-LFCA effectively targeted intestine delivery of Lactobacillus and antimicrobial peptides and modulated gut microbiota and mucosal immunity. This study reveals a novel targeting mucosal strategy against S. typhimurium infection.
Keywords: LFCA; Limosilactobacillus reuteri; Salmonella typhimurium; intestinal barrier; microcapsules.