Probiotic Lactobacillus kefiri prevents lipopolysaccharide-induced preterm birth in mice

MARÍA SILVIA VENTIMIGLIA; MARÍA SERRADELL ; NATALIN VALEFF; FEDERICO JENSEN; LORENA JURIOL

Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

Congreso; Reunión Conjunta de Sociedades de Biociencias; 2017

Sociedad Argentina de Inmunología (SAI)

Preterm birth (PTB) is a recurrent complication of pregnancy affecting 5-18% of all births worldwide and leading to serious consequences for the mother and the progeny. Although aetiology is not fully determinate, it is known that inflammation is a contributing factor to both infection-mediated and spontaneous PTB. Probiotics were proved to be able to modulate immune responses promotingan anti-inflammatory environment. Hence, they are being widely used in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases and immunopathologies. The aim of this work was to study the effects of probiotic Lactobacillus kefiri on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced PTB in pregnant mice. C57BL76 females were administered every 48h by oral gavage during a week with probiotic (PB) (108 CFU) (n=5) or vehicle (milk) (n=5). Afterward, animals were mated withBALB/c males. Day of the vaginal plug detection was considered day 0.5 of pregnancy. Treatment continued every 48h during pregnancy, and females were challenged with LPS (10 ug) on gd 16.5 (~3 days before expected on-time birth). Births before day 18.5 were considered PTB. Mice from control group given LPS exhibited 100% of PTB (5/5), with a majority delivering dead pups (18/25, 72%) or live pups (7/25, 28%) prematurely. Remarkably, treatment with L. kefiri completely protected pregnant mice to develop LPS-induced PTB (0%, 0/5), with a majority delivering viable term pups (19/26, 73%), (p < 0.0001, analysed by χ2 test). Additionally, while uterus from PB mice looked healthy, uterus from control mice exhibited highly haemorrhagic areas and implantations sites were barely recognized. Pups born from PB treated mice were not only bigger at birth but also gained significantly higher weight during lactation period compared to pups from control mice (one way ANOVA, p < 0.0001). Our results clearly demonstrate that probiotic L. kefiri prevents LPS-induced PTB in vivo, opening new avenues to explore its therapeutic use for preventing PTB in humans.