ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Microbial Immunology
Oral administration of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus HM126 alleviates DNFB-induced atopic dermatitis in BALB/c mice by modulating immunity, gut microbiota, and metabolites
Provisionally accepted
- 1Key Laboratory of Dairy Science, Ministry of Education, Food Science College, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
- 2National Engineering Research Center of Dairy Health for Maternal and Child, Beijing Sanyuan Foods Co., Ltd., Beijing, China
- 3Beijing Engineering Research Center of Dairy, Beijing Technical Innovation Center of Human Milk Research, Beijing Sanyuan Foods Co., Ltd., Beijing, China
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Probiotics have emerged as a promising and safe alternative therapy for atopic dermatitis (AD) by regulating the gut microbiota-immune axis, correcting type 1/type 2 imbalance, and repairing the skin barrier. A mouse model of AD was established using diphenylnitromethane (DNFB). Low, medium, and high doses of human milk-derived Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus HM126 were administered to investigate its effects on the model. We observed the scratching frequency and skin lesion scores after 28 days of continuous oral administration. Serum biochemical indicators and inflammatory cytokines were measured using ELISA, whereas the gut microbiota in feces was analyzed using 16S rDNA sequencing. Non-targeted metabolomics was used to assess the changes in fecal metabolites. Compared to the DNFB group, high-dose L. rhamnosus HM126 significantly reduced scratching frequency in AD mice. The low-dose group showed significantly reduced IgE levels. Additionally, serum IL-4 levels were significantly decreased in the all dose groups, whereas the IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio significantly increased, indicating that L. rhamnosus HM126 modulates type 1/type 2 immune factors toward equilibrium. 16S rDNA analysis revealed that L. rhamnosus HM126 significantly reduced the ACE index and Chao 1 index of the gut microbiota in mice with AD, thereby reshaping the composition of the gut microbiome. Metabolomics analysis suggested that L. rhamnosus HM126 may improve AD by influencing the levels of asiatic acid, phytosphingosine, Ser-Glu, prostaglandin F2 alpha ethylamide (PGF(2α)EA), argininosuccinic acid, L-rhamnose, and gamma-L-glutamyl-L-glutamic acid. This study demonstrated that L. rhamnosus HM126 maintains the type 1/type 2 balance and effectively modifies the gut microbiota structure and metabolic changes to improve AD. Our findings provide a scientific basis for the development of probiotic therapeutics to prevent and treat this condition.
Keywords: atopic dermatitis, Breast milk-derived probiotics, Gut Microbiota, Lacticaseibacillusrhamnosus, non-targeted metabolomics
Received: 05 Nov 2025; Accepted: 03 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xie, Li, Liu, Zhao, Luo, Qiao and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lijun Chen
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