In vitro screening of synbiotics composed of Lactobacillus and oligosaccharides and evaluating the potential anti-allergic ability

Abstract

Studies have demonstrated that the supplementation of oligosaccharides and Lactobacillus has the potential to alleviate food allergies. In this study, the gastrointestinal tolerance and adhesion properties of three anti-allergic Lactobacillus strains were evaluated in vitro. Subsequently, five oligosaccharides were incubated with each selected Lactobacillus strain to determine which combination could significantly promote Lactobacillus proliferation. The ability of Lactobacillus–oligosaccharide combinations to intervene allergic responses was assessed using a bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) and splenocytes co-culture model. The results indicated that Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (Lp) exhibited significant resistance to acidic conditions, bile salts, pepsin and trypsin, as well as excellent hydrophobicity, auto-aggregation, antioxidant properties, and Caco-2 cells adhesion. Moreover, Lp co-cultured with fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS) produced higher levels of short-chain fatty acids. Furthermore, Lp-FOS suppressed the expression of surface markers CD40 and CD86 on BMDCs. Additionally, the DCs-splenocytes co-culture model revealed that Lp-FOS upregulated the percentage of Th1 and Tregs, downregulated the percentage of Th2 and Th17 cells, and suppressed the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Overall, this study highlights the potential anti-allergic functions of the synbiotic combination of Lp-FOS, which will provide theoretical basis for intervention of allergy by Lp-FOS as dietary supplement.