Probiotic-Induced Priming of Innate Immunity to Protect Against Rotaviral Infection

Understanding of probiotic-induced regulatory gene expression and networking is critical to further explore their roles in controlling infection. Transcriptional profile of selected innate immune genes in primary bovine intestinal epithelial cells was assessed over a time course of incubation with the probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum 299v. Based on gene expression results, a time point was chosen to prime epithelial cells with the probiotic prior to infection with rotavirus. Plaque assays and genomic analysis provided the basis for establishing the efficacy of probiotics in preventing a rotaviral infection. Plaque assays revealed that the probiotic is capable of decreasing (at least by 100-fold) the levels of live virus when the cells were primed with the probiotic. Results from gene expression studies (a) suggested that homeostasis in the gut is maintained in probiotic-primed cells despite infection with rotavirus and (b) revealed preliminary mechanisms for understanding the pathway of pathogen protection by using probiotics.