Prior stimulation of antigen-presenting cells with Lactobacillus regulates excessive antigen-specific cytokine responses in vitro when compared with Bacteroides.

The development of allergy is related to differences in the intestinal microbiota. Therefore, it is suggested that the immune responses induced by different genera of bacteria might be regulated through adaptive as well as innate immunity. In this study, we examined whether antigen-specific immune responses were affected by stimulation with the different genera of intestinal bacteria in vitro. Mesenteric lymph node (MLN) cells isolated from germ-free ovalbumin (OVA)-specific T cell receptor transgenic (OVA-Tg) mice were stimulated with OVA and intestinal bacteria. Cecal contents from conventional mice but not germ-free mice could induce OVA-specific cytokine production. Among the murine intestinal bacteria, Bacteroides acidofaciens (BA) enhanced OVA-specific IFN-gamma and IL-10 production while Lactobacillus johnsonii (LA) increased OVA-specific IL-10 production only. The expression of cell surface molecules and cytokine production by antigen-presenting cells (APCs) from germ-free Balb/c mice were analyzed. BA increased the expression of MHC II and co-stimulatory molecules on APCs compared with LA. BA increased IL-6 and IL-10 production but induced less IL-12p40 than LA. To examine the effects of prior stimulation of APCs by intestinal bacteria on the induction of antigen-specific immune responses, cytokine production was determined following co-culture with OVA, CD4(+) T cells from OVA-Tg mice, and APCs which were pre-stimulated with the bacteria or not. APCs pre-stimulated with LA did not enhance OVA-specific cytokine production while BA stimulated OVA-specific IL-10 production. These results suggest that the prior stimulation of intestinal immunocytes by Lactobacillus might regulate excessive antigen-specific cytokine responses via APCs when compared with prior stimulation by Bacteroides.