Modulation of Gut Microbiota and Pathogens by Biotics (Prebiotics, Probiotics, Postbiotics, Parabiotics, Synbiotics)

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 January 2025) | Viewed by 4446

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Research Unit Bacterial Communication and Anti-Infectious Strategies (CBSA, UR4312), University of Rouen Normandie, 27000 Evreux, France
Interests: gut microbiota; gut-brain axis; host-microbe interactions; probiotics; health benefits; virulence; antibiotic resistance; safety
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Guest Editor
Research Unit Bacterial Communication and Anti-Infectious Strategies (CBSA, UR4312), University of Rouen Normandie, 27000 Evreux, France
Interests: gut-brain axis; host-microbe interactions; microbial ecology; microbial genomics; next generation sequencing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Gut microbiota plays an important role in maintaining host health, helping to defend against pathogens and modulate the immune response. A favourable balance of the gut microbiota is therefore beneficial to the host's health. Biotics are powerful regulators of gut microbiota and have a positive effect on host health by preventing pathogen invasion, modulating the host immunity and protecting from several infectious and non-infectious diseases. Thus, the potential roles of biotics in affecting gut bacteria communities and the immune system are considered an economical and safe alternative for the treatment of some chronic diseases and improvement of human health.

This Special Issue discusses the role of the gut microbiota and the use of biotics (prebiotics, probiotics, postbiotics, parabiotics and synbiotics) as novel therapies for the prevention of pathogens, treatment of infections and modulation of gut microbiota. We will consider original scientific research articles, comprehensive reviews, commentaries and perspectives for publication, which aim to identify new opportunities and advance the field. Topics of interest include gut microbiota, host–microbe interactions, and host adaptation, all being related to the role of biotics in the modulation of gut microbiota and pathogens. All manuscripts will be peer-reviewed.

We look forward to your submission.

Dr. Nathalie Connil
Dr. Amine Boukerb
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • gut microbiota
  • therapies
  • pathogens prevention
  • infections treatment
  • immune system
  • probiotics
  • prebiotics
  • postbiotics

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 1970 KiB  
Article
Pediococcus pentosaceus MZF16 Probiotic Strain Prevents In Vitro Cytotoxic Effects of Pseudomonas aeruginosa H103 and Prolongs the Lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans
by Meryem Boujnane, Mohamed Zommiti, Olivier Lesouhaitier, Mounir Ferchichi, Ali Tahrioui, Amine M. Boukerb and Nathalie Connil
Pathogens 2025, 14(3), 244; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14030244 - 3 Mar 2025
Viewed by 651
Abstract
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogenic bacterium, responsible for several life-threatening infections due to its multiple virulence factors and problematic multi-drug resistance, hence the necessity to find alternatives such as competitive probiotics. Pediococcus pentosaceus MZF16 is an LAB strain, isolated from traditional dried [...] Read more.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogenic bacterium, responsible for several life-threatening infections due to its multiple virulence factors and problematic multi-drug resistance, hence the necessity to find alternatives such as competitive probiotics. Pediococcus pentosaceus MZF16 is an LAB strain, isolated from traditional dried meat “Ossban”, with high probiotic potential. Our study investigated the capacity of P. pentosaceus MZF16 to counteract P. aeruginosa H103 using several tests on intestinal cells (analysis of cytotoxicity, inflammation, adhesion/invasion) and on the in vivo Caenorhabditis elegans model. The effect of MZF16 on the quorum sensing of the pathogen was also examined. We found that P. pentosaceus MZF16 was able to reduce H103 cytotoxicity and inflammatory activity and prevented pathogen colonization and translocation across Caco-2/TC7 cells. MZF16 also exerted an anti-virulence effect by attenuating quorum-sensing (QS) molecules and pyoverdine production and extended C. elegans lifespan. The obtained results highlight the potential of P. pentosaceus MZF16 probiotic strain as an anti-Pseudomonas aeruginosa alternative and establish a basis for elucidating the mechanisms of P. pentosaceus MZF16 involved in countering P. aeruginosa virulence. Full article
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15 pages, 7715 KiB  
Article
Recombinant Bile Salt Hydrolase Enhances the Inhibition Efficiency of Taurodeoxycholic Acid against Clostridium perfringens Virulence
by Tahrir Alenezi, Bilal Alrubaye, Ying Fu, Janashrit Shrestha, Samar Algehani, Hong Wang, Rohana Liyanage and Xiaolun Sun
Pathogens 2024, 13(6), 464; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13060464 - 31 May 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1473
Abstract
Clostridium perfringens is the main pathogen of chicken necrotic enteritis (NE) causing huge economic losses in the poultry industry. Although dietary secondary bile acid deoxycholic acid (DCA) reduced chicken NE, the accumulation of conjugated tauro-DCA (TDCA) raised concerns regarding DCA efficacy. In this [...] Read more.
Clostridium perfringens is the main pathogen of chicken necrotic enteritis (NE) causing huge economic losses in the poultry industry. Although dietary secondary bile acid deoxycholic acid (DCA) reduced chicken NE, the accumulation of conjugated tauro-DCA (TDCA) raised concerns regarding DCA efficacy. In this study, we aimed to deconjugate TDCA by bile salt hydrolase (BSH) to increase DCA efficacy against the NE pathogen C. perfringens. Assays were conducted to evaluate the inhibition of C. perfringens growth, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) production, and virulence gene expression by TDCA and DCA. BSH activity and sequence alignment were conducted to select the bsh gene for cloning. The bsh gene from Bifidobacterium longum was PCR-amplified and cloned into plasmids pET-28a (pET-BSH) and pDR111 (pDR-BSH) for expressing the BSH protein in E. coli BL21 and Bacillus subtilis 168 (B-sub-BSH), respectively. His-tag-purified BSH from BL21 cells was evaluated by SDS-PAGE, Coomassie blue staining, and a Western blot (WB) assays. Secretory BSH from B. subtilis was analyzed by a Dot-Blot. B-sub-BSH was evaluated for the inhibition of C. perfringens growth. C. perfringens growth reached 7.8 log10 CFU/mL after 24 h culture. C. perfringens growth was at 8 vs. 7.4, 7.8 vs. 2.6 and 6 vs. 0 log10 CFU/mL in 0.2, 0.5, and 1 mM TDCA vs. DCA, respectively. Compared to TDCA, DCA reduced C. perfringens H2S production and the virulence gene expression of asrA1, netB, colA, and virT. BSH activity was observed in Lactobacillus johnsonii and B. longum under anaerobe but not L. johnsonii under 10% CO2 air. After the sequence alignment of bsh from ten bacteria, bsh from B. longum was selected, cloned into pET-BSH, and sequenced at 951 bp. After pET-BSH was transformed in BL21, BSH expression was assessed around 35 kDa using Coomassie staining and verified for His-tag using WB. After the subcloned bsh and amylase signal peptide sequence was inserted into pDR-BSH, B. subtilis was transformed and named B-sub-BSH. The transformation was evaluated using PCR with B. subtilis around 3 kb and B-sub-BSH around 5 kb. Secretory BSH expressed from B-sub-BSH was determined for His-tag using Dot-Blot. Importantly, C. perfringens growth was reduced greater than 59% log10 CFU/mL in the B-sub-BSH media precultured with 1 vs. 0 mM TDCA. In conclusion, TDCA was less potent than DCA against C. perfringens virulence, and recombinant secretory BSH from B-sub-BSH reduced C. perfringens growth, suggesting a new potential intervention against the pathogen-induced chicken NE. Full article
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17 pages, 3155 KiB  
Article
Commensal Bacteria Impact on Intestinal Toll-like Receptor Signaling in Salmonella-Challenged Gnotobiotic Piglets
by Alla Splichalova, Zdislava Kindlova, Jiri Killer, Vera Neuzil Bunesova, Eva Vlkova, Barbora Valaskova, Radko Pechar, Katerina Polakova and Igor Splichal
Pathogens 2023, 12(11), 1293; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12111293 - 29 Oct 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1649
Abstract
Gnotobiotic (GN) animals with simple and defined microbiota can help to elucidate host-pathogen interferences. Hysterectomy-derived germ-free (GF) minipigs were associated at 4 and 24 h post-hysterectomy with porcine commensal mucinolytic Bifidobacterium boum RP36 (RP36) strain or non-mucinolytic strain RP37 (RP37) or at 4 [...] Read more.
Gnotobiotic (GN) animals with simple and defined microbiota can help to elucidate host-pathogen interferences. Hysterectomy-derived germ-free (GF) minipigs were associated at 4 and 24 h post-hysterectomy with porcine commensal mucinolytic Bifidobacterium boum RP36 (RP36) strain or non-mucinolytic strain RP37 (RP37) or at 4 h post-hysterectomy with Lactobacillus amylovorus (LA). One-week-old GN minipigs were infected with Salmonella Typhimurium LT2 strain (LT2). We monitored histological changes in the ileum, mRNA expression of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) 2, 4, and 9 and their related molecules lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP), coreceptors MD-2 and CD14, adaptor proteins MyD88 and TRIF, and receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) in the ileum and colon. LT2 significantly induced expression of TLR2, TLR4, MyD88, LBP, MD-2, and CD14 in the ileum and TLR4, MyD88, TRIF, LBP, and CD14 in the colon. The LT2 infection also significantly increased plasmatic levels of inflammatory markers interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-12/23p40. The previous colonization with RP37 alleviated damage of the ileum caused by the Salmonella infection, and RP37 and LA downregulated plasmatic levels of IL-6. A defined oligo-microbiota composed of bacterial species with selected properties should probably be more effective in downregulating inflammatory response than single bacteria. Full article
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