Inhibition of the Adherence and Invasion of E. coli K1 by Probiotics

Objective To evaluate inhibitory effect of probiotics in the adherence and invasion of Escherichia coli K1 to murine intestinal mucosa. Methods Viable bacterial counting method was applied to determine the number of Escherichia coli K1 adhered and invaded into Lovo cells treated with probiotics. FCM analysis was used to analyze probiotics-mediated inhibition of E. coli-induced apoptosis of Lovo cells. Neonatal rats were randomly assigned to the following experimental groups:probiotics + pathogen treatment group and pathogen treatment group. Viable cell counting method was used to quantitatively determine the number of pathogens (Escherichia coli K1) in the intestine of rats receiving orally administration of probiotics. Results Probiotics were found to competitively suppress the adherence and invasion of E. coli to Lovo cells in a dose-dependent manner (P0.01). The level of apoptosis of Lovo cells was also decreased (P0.01). The number of intestinal E. coli and the degree of bacteremia was also decreased in rats with probiotics treatment (P0.01). Conclusion Probiotics could protect intestinal epithelial cells and inhibit the adherence of pathogens to the intestinal epithelium.