Beneficial lactobacilli: effects on the vaginal tract in a murine experimental model.

PRISCILLA DE GREGORIO; JUAREZ TOMAS, MARIA SILVINA; VIVIANA SANTOS,; MARIA ELENA FÁTIMA NADER

ANTON LEEUW INT. J. G.

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2012 vol. 4 p. 569 - 580

0003-6072

Vaginal probiotics containing lactic acid bacteria with activity towards pathogenic microorganisms that cause urogenital tract infections have been proposed as a valid strategy for their prophylaxis and therapy. A murine experimental model was set up to evaluate the colonization capability of beneficial human lactobacilli and their effects on the mouse vaginal mucosa and innate immune cells. Five Lactobacillus strains were intravaginally inoculated into previously estrogenized BALB/c mice. The significance of the effects observed in the vaginal tract was determined by analysis of variance using the general linear model. The numbers of viable vaginal lactobacilli were significantly higher at proestrous-estrous than those at the metaestrous-diestrous phase and decreased markedly on the days after inoculation. Lactobacilli inoculation did not causecytological or histological modifications of the murine vaginal tract. Moreover, the intravaginaladministration of Lactobacillus salivarius CRL (Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos culture collection) 1328 and Lactobacillus gasseri CRL 1263 did not affect the amounts of granulocytes and macrophages present in vaginal washings. In conclusion, the results demonstrate that vaginal lactobacilli did not produce adverse effects on the murine vaginal tract. Therefore, they could be proposed as safe probiotic candidates to promote a balanced microbiota in the urogenital tract