Strain-specific inhibition of the adherence of uropathogenic bacteria to bladder cells by probiotic Lactobacillus spp

• Published in: Pathogens and disease 2017-06, Vol.75 (4)
• Main Authors: de Llano, Dolores González, Arroyo, Amalia, Cárdenas, Nivia, Rodríguez, Juan Miguel, Moreno-Arribas, M. Victoria, Bartolomé, Begoña
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adhesion; Antibiosis; Antimicrobial resistance; Bacteria; Bacterial Adhesion; Bladder; Cell adhesion; Cell Line; E coli; Enterococcus faecalis - physiology; Epithelial Cells - microbiology; Escherichia coli - physiology; Humans; Lactobacillus; Lactobacillus - physiology; Probiotics; Staphylococcus epidermidis - physiology; Strains (organisms); Urinary bladder; Urinary tract; Urinary tract infections
• ISSN: 2049-632X; 2049-632X
• DOI: 10.1093/femspd/ftx043

Abstract Urinary tract infections (UTIs), one of most common infections worldwide, face high recurrence rates and increasing antimicrobial resistance. Probiotic bacteria, especially of the genus Lactobacillus, are considered a promising preventive and/or treatment therapy against UTIs. In order to elucidate the mechanisms involved in these beneficial effects, we studied the impact of different Lactobacillus strains (Lactobacillus salivarius UCM572, L. plantarum CLC17 and L. acidophilus 01) in the adherence of reference and clinical uropathogenic strains (Escherichia coli ATCC® 53503, E. coli 10791, Enterococcus faecalis 04-1, En. faecalis 08-1 and Staphylococcus epidermidis 08-3) to T24 epithelial bladder cells. In general, the Lactobacillus strains with previous in vivo evidence of beneficial effects against UTIs (L. salivarius UCM572 and L. acidophilus 01) significantly inhibited the adherence of the five uropathogens to T24 cells, displaying percentages of inhibition ranging between 22.2% and 43.9%, and between 16.5% and 53.7%, respectively. On the other hand, L. plantarum CLC17, a strain with no expected effects on UTIs, showed almost negligible anti-adherence effects.Therefore, these in vitro results suggest that inhibition of the adherence of uropathogens to epithelial bladder cells may be one of the mechanisms involved in the potential beneficial effects of probiotics against UTIs in vivo. The anti-adhesive capacity of Lactobacillus strains against uropathogens in epithelial bladder cells is strain-specific in vitro, suggesting that this may be one of the mechanisms involved in the potential beneficial effects of probiotics against UTI.