Probiotic-educated Tregs are more potent than naive Tregs for immune tolerance in stressed new-born mice

When new-born mice are subjected to acute maternal separation stress, cow-milk based formula feeding, and brief recurrent hypoxia with cold stress, they develop gut inflammation similar to the phenotype of neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis, characterised by an increase in gut mucosal effector T (Teffs) and reduced Foxp3(+) regulatory T ( Tregs) cells. The imbalance can be prevented by probiotic Limosilactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 (LR 17938). We hypothesised that LR 17938 could potentiate a tolerogenic function of Tregs. To analyse whether LR 17938 can educate Tregs to improve their tolerogenic potency during neonatal stress, we isolated T cells (Tregs and Teffs) from `donor' mice fed with either LR 17938 (107 cfu) or control media. The cells were adoptively transferred (AT) by intraperitoneal injection (5 x 105 cells/mouse) to new-born (d5) recipient mice. Mice were then separated from their dams, fed formula by gavage, and exposed to hypoxia and cold stress (NeoStress) for 4 days. We analysed the percentage of Tregs in CD4(+)T helper cells in the intestine (INT) and mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) of recipient mice. We found that: (1) the percentage of Tregs in the INT and MLN following NeoStress were significantly reduced compared to dam-fed unstressed mice; (2) AT of either naive Tregs or LR-educated Tregs to mice with Neostress increased the percentage of Tregs in the INT and MLN compared to the percentage in NeoStress mice without Treg treatment; however, LR-educated Tregs increased the Tregs significantly more than naive Tregs; and (3) AT of LR-educated Tregs reduced pro-inflammatory CD44(+)Foxp3-NonTregs and inflammatory CX3CR1(+) dendritic cells in the intestinal mucosa of NeoStress mice. In conclusion, adoptive transfer of Tregs promotes the generation of and/or migration of endogenous Tregs in the intestinal mucosa of recipient mice. Importantly, probiotic-educated Tregs are more potent than naive Tregs to enhance immune tolerance following neonatal stress.

Automated summary

When subjected to acute maternal separation stress, cow-milk based formula feeding, and brief recurrent hypoxia with cold stress, new-born mice develop gut inflammation similar to neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis. Probiotic Limosilactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 (LR 17938) can prevent this gut inflammation by maintaining the balance between Tregs and Teffs. Adoptive transfer of LR-educated Tregs is more effective in promoting immune tolerance following neonatal stress compared to naive Tregs.