Oral probiotic therapy can control systemic bacterial infections in mice｜《Science · Translational Medicine》

Click on the blue text above to follow our new experiments on mice that show that an oral probiotic based on bacterial spores can prevent dangerous enterococci from invading the bloodstream and causing systemic infections
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The results of the experiment also clarify how enterococci invade the blood from its intestinal niche, suggesting that this probiotic therapy may prevent systemic bacterial infections in high-risk infections (such as immunocompromised or hospitalized patients)
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Although probiotics are touted as having many health benefits, researchers have only recently begun to study the mechanisms behind such claims
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Several studies have shown that probiotics can inhibit the lethal bacteria in the intestines, such as Salmonella, by stimulating the immune system or directly killing these bacteria, thereby benefiting patients
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However, it is not clear whether probiotics can also help fight systemic infections outside the intestine
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Here, Pipat Piewngam and colleagues studied the effects of probiotics on Enterococcus faecalis, a bacteria that often causes fatal antibiotic-resistant infections in hospitals
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The researchers first studied a mouse model of infection.
They found that bacteria penetrate the lining of the intestine and enter the blood through an intercellular communication system, the Fsr quorum sensing system, and an enzyme called GeIE
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However, giving mice an oral dose of spores of the probiotic species Bacillus subtilis before exposure to Enterococcus faecalis blocked the gene encoding GeIE and prevented systemic infection
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Piewngam et al.
stated that these findings may help explain why previous reports associate probiotics with a lower risk of sepsis
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