Probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum GUANKE effectively alleviates allergic rhinitis symptoms by modulating functions of various cytokines and chemokines

Haijun Han; Guoliang Chen; Bin Zhang; Xuewen Zhang; Jingmin He; Wenjuan Du; Ming D Li

doi:10.3389/fnut.2023.1291100

Probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum GUANKE effectively alleviates allergic rhinitis symptoms by modulating functions of various cytokines and chemokines

Front Nutr. 2024 Jan 15:10:1291100. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1291100. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Haijun Han^{1

2}, Guoliang Chen^{2

3}, Bin Zhang², Xuewen Zhang², Jingmin He^{2

4}, Wenjuan Du², Ming D Li²

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Novel Targets and Drug Study for Neural Repair of Zhejiang Province, School of Medicine, Hangzhou City University, Hangzhou, China.
² State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
³ Department of Animal Science, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu, Shanxi, China.
⁴ College of Biological Sciences, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu, Shanxi, China.

Abstract

Background: Currently, the prevalence of allergic rhinitis (AR) remains high and there is a great need to develop better and safer ways to alleviate AR symptoms. The Lactobacillus plantarum GUANKE probiotic was reported as an immunomodulator through maintaining Th1/Th2 balance. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of GUANKE in AR subjects.

Methods: Adults aged from 18 to 60 years old and previously suffered from AR were recruited and received GUANKE probiotics treatment for 4 weeks. The questionnaires of Total nasal symptom scores (TNSS), total non-nasal symptom score (TNNSS), and rhinitis control assessment test (RCAT) were used to assess the effectiveness before and after treatment. The serum allergen-specific IgE and cytokines were also determined at baseline and after 4 weeks of probiotics administration.

Results: The results showed that TNSS and TNNSS were significantly reduced and the RCAT score was significantly increased compared to baseline. The sub-symptom score of rhinorrhea, itching, sneezing, and tearing in each questionnaire also showed significant changes, and the serum IgE level was markedly decreased. We further measured inflammatory-related proteins in serum and found that a total of 20 proteins (6 upregulated and 14 downregulated) were significantly changed compared to baseline, including IL-4, IL-7, IL-20, IL-33, CXCL1, CXCL5, CXCL6, CXCL11, CCL4, CCL23, TGF-alpha, LAP-TGF-beta-1, MMP-1, MMP-10, AXIN1, NT-3, OSM, SCF, CD6, and NRTN. Enrichment analysis showed that these significantly altered proteins were mainly enriched in cytokine and chemokine-related signaling pathways.

Conclusion: Taken together, this study demonstrated the Lactobacillus plantarum GUANKE can serve as an effective immunobiotic for the treatment of AR, which is realized through maintaining the Th1/Th2 balance by modulating the functions of various cytokines and chemokines.

Keywords: GUANKE; Lactobacillus plantarum; allergic rhinitis; cytokine; probiotic.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2023YFC0871200) and the State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases of Zhejiang University School of Medicine.