Maternal supplementation with Bifidobacterium breve M-16V prevents their offspring from allergic airway inflammation accelerated by the prenatal exposure to an air pollutant aerosol

• Main Authors: Chiyoko Terada-Ikeda, Masahiro Kitabatake, Akari Hiraku, Kumiko Kato, Satsuki Yasui, Natsuko Imakita, Noriko Ouji-Sageshima, Noriyuki Iwabuchi, Kaoru Hamada, Toshihiro Ito, Heinz Fehrenbach
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2020-01-01
• Series: PLoS ONE
• Online Access: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7485856/?tool=EBI

Bifidobacterium breve M-16V is a probiotic bacterial strain with efficacy in infants achieved by suppressing T-helper type (Th) 2 immune responses and modulating the systemic Th1/Th2 balance. Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy increases asthma susceptibility in offspring. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the maternal intake of B. breve M-16V on susceptibility to asthma accelerated by prenatal exposure to air pollution. The intake of B. breve M-16V in residual oil fly ash (ROFA)-exposed pregnant mice resulted in fewer eosinophils in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of neonatal mice and reduced allergic lung inflammation. The expressions of Th2 cytokines including IL-5 and IL-13 were decreased in neonatal mice from ROFA-exposed mothers fed B. breve M-16V. The analysis of fecal microbiota from neonatal mice revealed that the intake of B. breve M-16V by mothers changed the composition of fecal microbiota in neonatal mice, which resulted in a decreased population of Firmicutes. Moreover, several bacterial strains of fecal microbiota from neonatal mice had a strong correlation with Th2 cytokines and histological score. These results suggest that the maternal intake of M-16V might have beneficial effects in neonates by preventing and/or alleviating allergic reactions accelerated by prenatal exposure to air pollution.