Background
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major global health problem with cigarette
smoke (CS) as the main risk factor for its development. Airway inflammation in COPD
involves the increased expression of inflammatory mediators such as CXCL-8 and IL-1β
which are important mediators for neutrophil recruitment. Macrophages are an important
source of these mediators in COPD. Lactobacillus rhamnosus (L. rhamnosus) and Befidobacterium
breve (B. breve) attenuate the development of ‘allergic asthma’ in animals but
their effects in COPD are unknown.
Objective
To determine the anti-inflammatory effects of L. rhamnosus and B. breve on CS and Tolllike
receptor (TLR) activation.
Design
We stimulated the human macrophage cell line THP-1 with CS extract in the presence and
absence of L. rhamnosus and B. breve and measured the expression and release of inflammatory
mediators by RT-qPCR and ELISA respectively. An activity assay and Western blotting
were used to examine NF-κB activation.
Results
Both L. rhamnosus and B. breve were efficiently phagocytized by human macrophages. L.
rhamnosus and B. breve significantly suppressed the ability of CS to induce the expression
of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, IL-23, TNFα, CXCL-8 and HMGB1 release (all p<0.05) in human THP-
1 macrophages. Similar suppression of TLR4- and TLR9-induced CXCL8 expression was
also observed (p<0.05). The effect of L. rhamnosus and B. breve on inflammatory mediator
release was associated with the suppression of CS-induced NF-κB activation (p<0.05).
Conclusions
This data indicate that these probiotics may be useful anti-inflammatory agents in CS-associated
disease such as COPD.