AUTHOR=Ma Weiwei , Li Wenwen , Yu Shuang , Bian Hongsheng , Wang Yanyan , Jin Yang , Zhang Zhenhua , Ma Qing , Huang Lili 

TITLE=Immunomodulatory effects of complex probiotics on the immuno-suppressed mice induced by cyclophosphamide

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1055197

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2023.1055197

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=Previous studies have reported the beneficial effects of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis XLTG11, Lactobacillus casei Zhang and Lactobacillus plantarum P8, respectively. However, stud-ies on enhancing effects of the three complex probiotics have not been studied. The aim of our study is to investigate the immunomodulatory effects of complex probiotics effect on the immunosup-pressed mice induced by cyclophosphamide. An immunocompromised mouse model was estab-lished by intraperitoneal injection of cyclophosphamide (CTX), which was gavage of different doses of complex probiotics and levamisole hydrochloride. The splenic and thymic indices, intestinal bar-rier, leukocyte and lymphocyte counts, percentage of splenic lymphocyte subpopulations, cytokine levels and gut microbiota were determined. Results showed that the complex probiotics significantly elevated the spleen and thymus indices, increased the villi and crypt depth and the goblet cells. The leukocyte and lymphocyte counts and the percentage of splenic lymphocyte subpopulations in the CTX-treated mice were significantly elevated by the complex probiotics. In addition, the cytokines (IL-6, IL-10, IL-1β and IFN-γ) were significantly increased after complex probiotic treatment. The complex probiotics restored the gut microbiota structure to the pattern of the control group by re-ducing the ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes and enhancing the relative abundances of specific mi-crobiota that produced short-chain fatty acids. This study provides theoretical support for the im-munity-enhancing function of the complex probiotics as well as a pharmacological basis for its fur-ther development and utilization.