Effect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. Boulardii and β-galactomannan oligosaccharide on porcine intestinal epithelial and dendritic cells challenged in vitro with Escherichia coli F4 (K88)

Probiotic and prebiotics, often called immune-enhancing feed additives, are believed to deal with pathogens, preventing the need of an immune response and reducing tissue damage. In this study, we investigated if a recently developed beta-galactomannan (beta GM) had a similar protective role compared to Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. Boulardii (Scb), a proven probiotic, in the context of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) infection. ETEC causes inflammation, diarrhea and intestinal damage in piglets, resulting in large economic loses worldwide. We observed that Scb and beta GM products inhibited in vitro adhesion of ETEC on cell surface of porcine intestinal IPI-2I cells. Our data showed that Scb and beta GM decreased the mRNA ETEC-induced gene expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-6, GM-CSF and chemokines CCL2, CCL20 and CXCL8 on intestinal IPI-2I. Furthermore, we investigated the putative immunomodulatory role of Scb and beta GM on porcine monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs) per se and under infection conditions. We observed a slight up-regulation of mRNA for TNF-alpha and CCR7 receptor after co-incubation of DC with Scb and beta GM. However, no differences were found in DC activation upon ETEC infection and Scb or beta GM co-culture. Therefore, our results indicate that, similar to probiotic Scb, prebiotic beta GM may protect intestinal epithelial cells against intestinal pathogens. Finally, although these products may modulate DC activation, their effect under ETEC challenge conditions remains to be elucidated.