Another boost in the fight against the new crown virus! This probiotic can significantly enhance the effectiveness of the NEW CROWN vaccine

The year is getting closer, but the small wave epidemic is still rising and falling, and whether the workers can successfully go home for the New Year also needs to be marked with a big question mark.

The new crown virus is not Sun Wukong but has the ability to change seventy-two, and the appearance of the mutated strain Aomi Kerong in December disturbed the public's mood, and now France has once again detected the mutated strain B.1.640.2, which is named "IHU". So far, there have been so many mutated strains of the new crown virus, so whether the new crown vaccine has the effect of epidemic prevention, many people have doubts about this. The latest study suggests that a probiotic that can enhance the immune response of mice after receiving the new crown vaccine may be able to answer this question.

Recently, academician Xu Jianguo of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Professor Xu Jianqing of the Institute of Biomedical Research of Fudan University conducted a collaborative study, and the final research team found that a strain of Lactobacillus plant guanke (LPG) can significantly enhance the effect of the new crown vaccine. The research results were published online in Frontiers in Nutrition under the title "Boosting Vaccine-Elicited Respiratory Mucosal and Systemic COVID-19Immunity in Mice With the Oral Lactobacillus plantarum."

Research (Source: Frontiers in Nutrition)

This study shows that Lactobacillus plantarum GUANKE (LPG) can promote SARS-CoV-2-specific immune responses in mice after vaccination by enhancing interferon signaling and inhibiting apoptosis and inflammatory pathways. LPG given to mice after covid-19 vaccination can promote and maintain the production of antibodies to the new coronavirus in their bodies.

In this study, the researchers first used experiments to determine whether LPG could enhance the effective immune response induced by the vaccine in the new crown vaccination model. The researchers found that 24 weeks after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, mice taken by mouth Lactobacillus plantarum GUANKE (LPG) significantly enhanced and prolonged the coronavirus-specific memory antibody response.

The researchers then conducted further studies, giving mice oral Lactobacillus plantarum GUANKE (LPG) immediately after receiving the covid-19 vaccine, while setting up a control group. Seven days later, a significant increase in specific neutralizing antibody titers in the LPG group was observed in the LPG group in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) and serum.

Moreover, the researchers also found that LPG induced T cell responses in mice. This shows that oral LPG after vaccination with the new crown vaccine can significantly enhance the humoral response and cellular immune response of mice to the new crown virus.

Oral LPG after COVID-19 vaccination enhances the humoral and cellular immune response of mice against the new crown virus (Source: Frontiers in Nutrition)

So how does oral LPG after vaccination enhance the immune response in mice? With this question in mind, the researchers performed transcriptome analysis of splenocytes, mediastinum, mesentery, small intestine, and colon tissue in mice in the LPG group. They found that oral LPG promoted interferon responses in mice and inhibited apoptosis pathways and inflammatory responses. This suggests that oral LPG can influence the immune response through the intestinal-lung and intestinal-spleen immune axes.

These changes in the immune microenvironment further affect the adaptive immune response. Analyzing the RNA sequencing of T cell and B cell-related genes, the researchers found that the upregulation of genes related to B cell and T cell function in mice in the LPG group showed that oral LPG promoted the activation, proliferation and differentiation of B cells and T cells, thereby enhancing the immune response against the virus. In addition, they also found that the spleen of the LPG group mice had a decrease in CCR7 and an increase in S1PR, and these changes were related to the migration of T cells. The researchers believe that the migration of CD8+ effector T cells may protect antigen-presenting cells from cytotoxic T cell attack and prevent premature decline in immune response, which in turn prolongs the T cell-specific immune response.

In summary, this study shows that oral administration of Lactobacillus plantarum GUANKE (LPG) after vaccination with the new crown vaccine can significantly enhance the effectiveness of the vaccine against the virus, on the one hand, significantly increase the titer of neutralizing antibodies inside the body, and on the other hand, promote the immune response by promoting the proliferation and activation of T cells and B cells.

With covid-19 still pervasive around the world, the results of this study are undoubtedly encouraging, and it is hoped that human trials will be carried out as soon as possible so that Lactobacillus plantarum GUANKE can be used as an adjuvant in combination with the new crown vaccine to increase the effectiveness of the new crown vaccine. I hope we can defeat the new crown virus as soon as possible and embrace each other in the sun.

End

Resources:

[1] Xu J, Ren Z, Cao K,et al. Boosting Vaccine-Elicited Respiratory Mucosal and Systemic COVID-19 Immunity in Mice With the Oral Lactobacillus plantarum. Front. Nutr. 8:789242. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.789242