RRC ID 88761
Author Tabuchi F, Kano C, Hirota T, Kanda T, Sekimizu K, Miyashita A.
Title Human gut associated Bacteroides and Akkermansia bacteria exhibit immunostimulatory activity in the silkworm muscle contraction assay.
Journal Drug Discov Ther
Abstract The immunoregulatory activity of human gut bacteria has attracted attention in recent years. To assess the innate immune-stimulatory activity of various samples in vivo efficiently, we previously introduced a silkwormbased assay as a novel alternative method. The method has been used for over a decade to screen for substances with potential physiological activity. In this study, we prepared heat-killed cells of four strains of human gut bacteria (Bacteroides ovatus, B. thetaiotaomicron, B. uniformis, and Akkermansia muciniphila) and assessed their innate immune-stimulatory activity within the silkworm model. Our findings indicate that the sample from either B. ovatus or B. thetaiotaomicron has immunostimulatory activity in the silkworm, in contrast to B. uniformis and A. muciniphila. Moreover, a pathogenicity assessment using the silkworm infection model was conducted to determine the safety of these bacterial strains for human consumption when considered as food ingredients. None of the four gut bacterial strains exhibited pathogenic effects in silkworms, with Pseudomonas aeruginosa serving as a positive control of the pathogenicity test. These results suggest that the silkworm-based assay can distinguish between the immunostimulatory effects of different human gut microbes and may enhance the safety evaluation of microbial ingredients.
Volume 19(1)
Pages 74-79
Published 2025-3-6
DOI 10.5582/ddt.2025.01001
PMID 40010721
MeSH Akkermansia* / immunology Animals Bacteroides* / immunology Bombyx* / immunology Bombyx* / microbiology Gastrointestinal Microbiome* / immunology Humans Immunity, Innate Muscle Contraction* / immunology Pseudomonas aeruginosa / immunology Pseudomonas aeruginosa / pathogenicity
Resource
General Microbes JCM5824 JCM5827 JCM5828 JCM33894