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Nutritional Immunology

Enterococcus faecium SF68 Enhances the Immune Response to Giardia intestinalis in Mice¹

J. Benyacoub^*,2, P. F. Pérez^,**,, F. Rochat^*, K. Y. Saudan^*, G. Reuteler^*, N. Antille^*, M. Humen^,, G. L. De Antoni^,**,, C. Cavadini^*, S. Blum^* and E. J. Schiffrin^*

^* Nestlé Research Center, CH-1000, Lausanne 26, Switzerland; Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, 553-1900 La Plata, Argentina; ^** Cátedra de Microbiología, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, 115-1900 La Plata, Argentina; CONICET, Argentina; and CIC-PBA, Argentina

²To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jalil.benyacoub{at}rdls.nestle.com.

We studied the ability of the probiotic organism Enterococcus faecium SF68 to antagonize Giardia intestinalis infection in mice. Oral feeding of E. faecium strain SF68 starting 7 d before inoculation with Giardia trophozoites significantly increased the production of specific anti-Giardia intestinal IgA and blood IgG. This humoral response was mirrored at the cellular level by an increased percentage of CD4⁺ T cells in the Peyer’s patches and in the spleens of SF68-fed mice. The improvement of specific immune responses in probiotic-fed mice was associated with a diminution in the number of active trophozoites in the small intestine as well as decreased shedding of fecal Giardia antigens (GSA65 protein). The ability of SF68 to stimulate the immune system at both mucosal and systemic levels highlights mechanisms by which this probiotic might antagonize pathogens in vivo. Taken together, the data demonstrate the strong potential of strain SF68 to prevent protozoa from causing intestinal infections.

KEY WORDS: • Enterococcus faecium • probiotics • Giardia intestinalis • animal model • immune response

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