• Oral Administration of Probiotic Enterococcus Durans Ameliorates Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis in Mice
  • Seyed Abdollah Samani,1 Samaneh Vafadar,2 kambiz Hassanzadeh,3,*
    1. Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
    2. Basic science department, Molecular cell biology group, Islamic azad university central , Tehran branch, Tehran, Iran
    3. Department of Medical Physiology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran


  • Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a myelin-degenerating autoimmune disease in the central nervous system (CNS). Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), due to its clinical and pathologic features similar to multiple sclerosis, is widely used in many studies of this disease as an effective and similar model. Probiotics, including lactobacilli, are known to induce immunomodulatory activity with promising effects in inflammatory diseases. In this study, we tested the potential of Enterococcus durans and three various strains of lactobacilli (lacto-mix), Including L.rhamnosus, L.casei, and L.plantarum for prevention of EAE features.
  • Methods: C57BL/6 female mice were inoculated with (MOG35-55) / (CFA) to induce EAE. Different groups (five groups: n = 6 in each group) of animals received saline or probiotics by oral gavage with 200 µl of lactobacilli (1.5 *108 CFU/ml) for 2 week before the immunization and during the test for one month.
  • Results: Histopathological studies showed an increase in infiltration of inflammatory cells and destruction of the myelin membrane in the EAE group but a decrease in the probiotic-treated animals. Pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-17 and IFN-) concentration in the supernatant of the brain and spinal cord tissues showed a significant increase in the EAE compared with the normal saline group (p <0.01), while in the spinal cord tissue there was a decrease in IL-17 in those animals treated with the Lacto-mix and Edu + Lacto- mix (p <0.01) and a significant decrease in IFN- in those animals that received Edu (p <0.05). Western blot analysis of MMP-9 and MBP proteins showed a decrease and increase in treatment and EAE groups, compared to the normal control group respectively.
  • Conclusion: our data suggest that probiotic Enterococcus durans and lacto-mix had a preventive effect against EAE but further studies are needed to clarify the exact mechanisms and their application in preclinical and clinical trials.
  • Keywords: MS, EAE, Anti-inflammatory, Antioxidant, Probiotic, Enterococcus durans