Original Article

Potential of Lactobacillus acidophilus to modulate cytokine production by peripheral blood monocytes in patients with endometriosis

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Endometriosis is defined as the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. Peripheral blood monocytes cells (PBMCs) may have altered function to some extent in women with endometriosis. Lactobacillus acidophilus is a probiotic bacterium within the human body with the ability of alleviating many inflammatory diseases. Here, we examined the effect of L. acidophilus on PBMCs of endometriosis patients.
Materials and Methods: In this study, peripheral blood samples were obtained from endometriosis patients (n=11) and non-endometriosis individuals (n=11). After isolation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells with Ficoll, cells were cultured in the presence and absence of phytohemagglutinin. Also, these cells were co-cultured with 1×106 CFU/ml of L. acidophilus. IL-6 and IL-1 cytokines were measured by ELISA method and the two groups were evaluated and compared.
Results: The results showed that in endometriosis patients, the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-1 and IL-6, by PBMC was increased compared to non-endometriosis subjects, and stimuli such as PHA intensified this elevation. Also, L. acidophilus increased the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-1 and IL-6. However, the production of these cytokines decreased due to the modulatory properties of bacterial cells after 48 h.
Conclusion: According to the results of the current study, IL-1 and IL-6 production was significantly increased in PMBCs of endometriosis patients compared to that of the healthy controls. Also, Lactobacillus acidophilus was considered as an antigenic compound and in­duced IL-1 and IL-6 production. According to these results, probiotics can be further used for the treatment of endometriosis patients and more investigations are needed to con­firm these results.

1. Kennedy S, Bergqvist A, Chapron C, D’Hooghe T, Dunselman G, Greb R, et al. ESHRE guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis. Hum Reprod 2005; 20: 2698-2704.
2. Rogers PAW, D’Hooghe TM, Fazleabas A, Gargett CE, Giudice LC, Montgomery GW, et al. Priorities for endometriosis research: Recommendations from an international consensus workshop. Reprod Sci 2009; 16: 335-346.
3. David Adamson G, Kennedy S, Hummelshoj L. Creating solutions in endometriosis: Global collaboration through the World Endometriosis Research Foundation. J Endometr 2010; 2: 3-6.
4. Králíčková M, Vetvicka V. Immunological aspects of endometriosis: a review. Ann Transl Med 2015; 3: 153.
5. Ghazeeri GS, Kutteh WH. Autoimmune factors in reproductive failure. Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol 2001; 13: 287-291.
6. Chiu S, Bharat A. Role of monocytes and macrophages in regulating immune response following lung transplantation. Curr Opin Organ Transplant 2016; 21: 239-245.
7. Michaud N, Al-Akoum M, Akoum A. Blood soluble interleukin 1 receptor accessory protein levels are consistently low throughout the menstrual cycle of women with endometriosis. Reprod Biol Endocrinol 2014; 12: 51.
8. Young VJ, Brown JK, Saunders PTK, Horne AW. The role of the peritoneum in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Hum Reprod Update 2013; 19: 558-569.
9. Giudice LC. Clinical practice. Endometriosis. N Engl J Med 2010; 362: 2389-2398.
10. D’Antonio M, Martelli F, Peano S, Papoian R, Borrelli F. Ability of recombinant human TNF binding protein-1 (r-hTBP-1) to inhibit the development of experimentally-induced endometriosis in rats. J Reprod Immunol 2000; 48: 81-98.
11. Vissers YM, Snel J, Zuurendonk PF, Kleerebezem M, Wichers HJ, Savelkoul HFJ. Lactobacillus strains differentially modulate cytokine production by hPBMC from pollen-allergic patients. FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol 2011; 61: 28-40.
12. Karczewski J, Troost FJ, Konings I, Dekker J, Kleerebezem M, Brummer R-JM, et al. Regulation of human epithelial tight junction proteins by Lactobacillus plantarum in vivo and protective effects on the epithelial barrier. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 2010; 298: G851-859.
13. Meijerink M, Wells JM. Probiotic modulation of dendritic cells and T cell responses in the intestine. Benef Microbes 2010; 1: 317-326.
14. Thomas CM, Versalovic J. Probiotics-host communication modulation of signaling pathways in the intestine. Gut Microbes 2010; 1: 148-163.
15. Noble PB, Cutts JH. Separation of blood leukocytes by Ficoll gradient. Can Vet J 1967; 8: 110-111.
16. Jeurink PV, Vissers YM, Rappard B, Savelkoul HFJ. T cell responses in fresh and cryopreserved peripheral blood mononuclear cells: Kinetics of cell viability, cellular subsets, proliferation, and cytokine production. Cryobiology 2008; 57: 91-103.
17. Vissers YM, Snel J, Zuurendonk PF, Smit BA, Wichers HJ, Savelkoul HFJ. Differential effects of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus plantarum strains on cytokine induction in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol 2010; 59: 60-70.
18. Chiswick EL, Duffy E, Japp B, Remick D. Detection and quantification of cytokines and other biomarkers. Methods Mol Biol 2012; 844: 15-30.
19. Persoons E, De Clercq K, Van den Eynde C, Pinto SJPC, Luyten K, Van Bree R, et al. Mimicking sampson's retrograde menstrual theory in rats: a new rat model for ongoing endometriosis-associated pain. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21: 2326.
20. Dmowski WP, Braun DP. Immunology of endometriosis. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol 2004; 18: 245-263.
21. Borchers AT, Selmi C, Meyers FJ, Keen CL, Gershwin ME. Probiotics and immunity. J Gastroenterol 2009; 44: 26-46.
22. Grau GE. Implications of cytokines in immunopathology: experimental and clinical data. Eur Cytokine Netw 1990; 1: 203-210.
23. Ghadimi D, Fölster-Holst R, De Vrese M, Winkler P, Heller KJ, Schrezenmeir J. Effects of probiotic bacteria and their genomic DNA on TH1/TH2-cytokine production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of healthy and allergic subjects. Immunobiology 2008; 213: 677-692.
24. Van Baarlen P, Troost FJ, Van Hemert S, Van Der Meer C, De Vos WM, De Groot PJ, et al. Differential NF-kappaB pathways induction by Lactobacillus plantarum in the duodenum of healthy humans correlating with immune tolerance. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2009; 106: 2371-2376.
25. Foligne B, Nutten S, Grangette C, Dennin V, Goudercourt D, Poiret S, et al. Correlation between in vitro and in vivo immunomodulatory properties of lactic acid bacteria. World J Gastroenterol 2007; 13: 236-243.
Files
IssueVol 14 No 5 (2022) QRcode
SectionOriginal Article(s)
DOI https://doi.org/10.18502/ijm.v14i5.10965
Keywords
Probiotic; Endometriosis; Lactibacillus acidophilus; Inflammatory cytokines

Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
1.
Sari F, Mirkalantari S, Nikoo S, Sepahvand F, Allahqoli L, Asadi A, Talebi M. Potential of Lactobacillus acidophilus to modulate cytokine production by peripheral blood monocytes in patients with endometriosis. Iran J Microbiol. 2022;14(5):698-704.