Project description:Gemcitabine treatment shifts the intestinal microbiota of PC mice towards an inflammatory profile which may worsen mucositis and side effects observed upon chemotherapy. We explored the effect of a specific probiotics blend administered, with or without gemcitabine treatment, to PC xenografted mice.
Project description:The hypocholesterolemic effect of probiotics has been observed, but the molecular mechanism of probiotic-host interaction is still obscure. In this study, DNA microarray technology was used to explore the gene expression profile of liver of hypercholesterolemic rats caused by administration of probiotic Lactobacillus casei Zhang, which can decrease the serum triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, hepatic cholesterol and triglyceride of hypercholesterolemic rats. Six liver samples in high fat and probiotic treated group (3 samples in each group) were randomly selected for RNA isolation and microarray hybridization, the 3 samples in high fat group were used as control.
Project description:The hypocholesterolemic effect of probiotics has been observed, but the molecular mechanism of probiotic-host interaction is still obscure. In this study, DNA microarray technology was used to explore the gene expression profile of liver of hypercholesterolemic rats caused by administration of probiotic Lactobacillus casei Zhang, which can decrease the serum triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, hepatic cholesterol and triglyceride of hypercholesterolemic rats.
Project description:Calorie restriction is a major intervention consistently demonstrated to retard aging and delay age-associated diseases. A novel micronutrient blend, a putative calorie restriction mimetic, was developed based on a screening tool we previously described. Whole transcriptomic analysis was examined in brain cortex, skeletal muscle and heart in three groups of mice: old controls (30 months), old + calorie restriction and old + novel micronutrient blend. The micronutrient blend elicited transcriptomic changes in a manner similar to those in the calorie-restricted group and unique from those in the control group. Subgroup analysis revealed that nuclear hormone receptor, proteasome complex and angiotensinogen genes, all of which are known to be directly related to the aging process, were the most affected by the micronutrient blend and by calorie restriction. Thus, these three genes may be considered master regulators of the favorable effects of calorie restriction and of the micronutrient blend. Based on the calorie restriction mimetic effects on transcriptomics, it was hypothesized that the micronutrient blend would promotes longevity and vitality. To test this hypothesis, a functional analysis in C. Elegans was used to examine the effects of the micronutrient blend on longevity and biomarkers of vitality. Results indicate that feeding C. Elegans the micronutrient blend increased longevity as well as vitality. Further studies are required to confirm that the calorie restriction mimicking benefits described here are elicited by the micronutrient blend in humans.
Project description:Salmonella remains an important enteric pathogen of poultry, primarily due to concerns regarding food-borne illness in humans consuming contaminated poultry products. Specific probiotic cultures are efficacious as a treatment for neonatal poultry to prevent enteric infections (competitive exclusion) due to the exquisite susceptibility of young chicks to pathogens in the hatchery and brooding environment. The objective of this experiment was to analyze transcriptional profiles in the ceca of neonatal chicks using the Arizona Gallus gallus 20.7K Oligo Array v1.0, following treatment with a probiotic culture derived from poultry with and without Salmonella enterica subsp. Enteritidis (SE) challenge. Chicks were obtained from a commercial hatchery, and challenged with SE upon arrival at the laboratory. One hour post-challenge, chicks were treated with a probiotic culture (FM-B11). Treatment groups included: Control (no challenge or treatment, vehicle only), SE (challenged only), B11 (treated only) and SE+B11 (challenged and treated). Samples were obtained at 12h and 24h post-treatment. We observed that administration of a Lactobacillus-based probiotic culture to chicks following challenge with SE reduced SE colonization of the cecae and resulted in differential expression of genes in the cecae. Among all four treatment groups, 309 genes were differentially expressed (p<0.05) at 12h, and 352 genes were differentially expressed (p<0.05) at 24h. Keywords: disease state analysis
Project description:Salmonella remains an important enteric pathogen of poultry, primarily due to concerns regarding food-borne illness in humans consuming contaminated poultry products. Specific probiotic cultures are efficacious as a treatment for neonatal poultry to prevent enteric infections (competitive exclusion) due to the exquisite susceptibility of young chicks to pathogens in the hatchery and brooding environment. The objective of this experiment was to analyze transcriptional profiles in the ceca of neonatal chicks using the Arizona Gallus gallus 20.7K Oligo Array v1.0, following treatment with a probiotic culture derived from poultry with and without Salmonella enterica subsp. Enteritidis (SE) challenge. Chicks were obtained from a commercial hatchery, and challenged with SE upon arrival at the laboratory. One hour post-challenge, chicks were treated with a probiotic culture (FM-B11). Treatment groups included: Control (no challenge or treatment, vehicle only), SE (challenged only), B11 (treated only) and SE+B11 (challenged and treated). Samples were obtained at 12h and 24h post-treatment. We observed that administration of a Lactobacillus-based probiotic culture to chicks following challenge with SE reduced SE colonization of the cecae and resulted in differential expression of genes in the cecae. Among all four treatment groups, 309 genes were differentially expressed (p<0.05) at 12h, and 352 genes were differentially expressed (p<0.05) at 24h. Keywords: disease state analysis Eight experimental groups with 4 replicates each were analyzed. A reference RNA design was used for this microarray. Equal amounts of amplified RNA (aRNA) from all samples were pooled and labelled with the Alexa 647 to create the reference pool. Each individual sample was labelled with Alexa 555. Each slide was hybridized with both the reference pool and one sample.
Project description:Probiotic bacteria may render mice resistant to the development of various inflammatory and infectious diseases. This study aimed to identify underlying mechanisms by which probiotic bacteria may influence intestinal immune homeostasis in non-inflammatory conditions. To this end, we studied the effect of short term (3 days) and long term (28 days) oral administration of VSL#3, a mixture of 8 probiotic bacteria, to healthy BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice, with dominant humoral or cellular immunity, respectively. Long-term treatment with VSL#3 resulted in an increase of B cells and a decrease of CD4+ T cells in the Peyer’s patches (PP) and mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) of both mouse strains, compared to untreated mice. However, genome wide gene expression profiling using micro-arrays revealed that prolonged administration of VSL#3 to BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice was associated with host-specific modulation of gene expression in colon and small intestine. Whereas VSL#3 treatment resulted in down-regulation of Il13 and Epx, and up-regulation of Il12rb1, Ccr5, Cxcr3 and Cxcl10 in BALB/c mice, such effects were not observed in C57BL/6 mice. In BALB/c mice, a 2-fold increase in CD103+ CD11c+ dendritic cells was found both in PP and in MLN, 18 hours after the first treatment with VSL#3. Prolonged treatment with VSL#3 was associated with increased numbers of Th17 cells and Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in the MLN of these mice. In conclusion, these experiments in healthy mice show that probiotic bacteria may alter the immunological phenotype of the host; the nature of these effects is dependent on mouse strain. In conclusion, these experiments in healthy mice show that probiotic bacteria may alter the immunological phenotype of the host; the nature of these effects is dependent on mouse strain. 40 samples (4 experimental groups, 5 biological replicates), performed in two inbred mice strains