AIM:To investigate cytokine production and cell surface phenotypes of dendritic cells (DC) in the presence of epithelial cells stimulated by probiotics.METHODS:Mouse DC were cultured alone or together with mouse epithelial cell monolayers in normal or inverted systems and were stimulated with heat-killed probiotic bacteria,Bifidobacterium lactis AD011 (BL),Bifidobacterium bifidum BGN4 (BB),Lactobacillus casei IBS041 (LC),and Lactobacillus acidophilus AD031 (LA),for 12 h.Cytokine levels in the culture supernatants were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and phenotypic analysis of DC was investigated by flow cytometry.RESULTS:BB and LC in single-cultured DC increased the expression of I-Ad,CD86 and CD40 (I-Ad,18.51 vs 30.88,46.11;CD86,62.74 vs 92.7,104.12;CD40,0.67 vs 6.39,3.37,P < 0.05).All of the experimental probiot-ics increased the production of inflammatory cytokines,interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α.However,in the normal co-culture systems,LC and LA decreased the expression of I-A d (39.46 vs 30.32,33.26,P < 0.05),and none of the experimental probiotics increased the levels of IL-6 or TNF-α.In the inverted coculture systems,LC decreased the expression of CD40 (1.36 vs-2.27,P < 0.05),and all of the experimental probiotics decreased the levels of IL-6.In addition,BL increased the production of IL-10 (103.8 vs 166.0,P < 0.05) and LC and LA increased transforming growth factor-β secretion (235.9 vs 618.9,607.6,P < 0.05).CONCLUSION:These results suggest that specific probiotic strains exert differential immune modulation mediated by the interaction of dendritic cells and epithelial cells in the homeostasis of gastrointestinal tract.
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