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The probiotic Enterococcus faecium strain SF68 (NCIMB 10415) has been shown to mitigate symptoms of human and animal intestinal inflammation. Significant lower expression of immune-associated genes of intestinal tissues and associated lymphoid organs were previously observed in post-weaning piglets supplemented with this strain prior to animal feeding trial in our lab.
To identify and characterize possible factor(s) involved in immunomodulatory effects on host cells, commensal and pathogenic Enterococcus strains were screened using porcine and human intestinal epithelial cells harboring an NF-κB reporter to determine effects on host cell NF-κB activation. Cytotoxic effects and responses to TLR- and NOD protein-ligands were assessed.
Cell-free whole cell lysates of E. faecium showed reversible inhibitory effects on NF-κB activation. Such effects were not observed with E. avium, E. gallinarum, or E. casseliflavus. An ammonium sulfate fraction of E. faecium lysates with inhibitory effects prominently included arginine deiminase (AD), identified using MALDI-TOF. The E. faecium arcA gene cloned into E. avium conferred the same NF-κB-inhibitory effects on intestinal cells as the E. faecium SF68 strain.
Our results indicate that the arginine deiminase of the AD pathway in E. faecium is most likely responsible for the NF-κB inhibitory effects in vitro, and possibly involved in the immunomodulatory effects of the probiotic E. faecium SF68 strain observed in prior animal trials.