Protective Effect of Pediococcus pentosaceus LI05 Against Clostridium difficile Infection in a Mouse Model.

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a major cause of infectious diarrhea among hospitalized patients. Probiotics could be instrumental in restoring the intestinal dysbiosis caused by CDI. Here, we examined the protective effect of Pediococcus pentosaceus L105 in a mouse CDI model. C57BU6 mice were administrated P. pentosaceus L105 (L105 group) or sterile anaerobic PBS (CDI group) everyday for 14 days. Mice were exposed to antibiotics cocktail for 5 days; then challenged with C. difficile strain VP110463. Mice were monitored daily for survival and weight loss. Colonic tissue and serum samples were assessed for intestinal histopathology, intestinal barrier function and systemic inflammation. The oral administration of P. pentosaceus L105 improved the survival rate and alleviated the histopathological impact of C. difficile. Compared to the CDI group, the levels of inflammatory mediators in the colon as well as inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in serum were substantially attenuated in the L105 group. P. pentosaceus L105 alleviated the CDI-induced of disruption of ZO-1, occludin and claudin-1. Additionally, fecal microbiome analysis showed an enrichment in the abundance of the Porphyromonadaceae and Rikenellaceae, while, the relative abundance of Enterobacteriaceae were decreased. Our results demonstrated that the preventive effect of P. pentosaceus L105 against CDI was mediated via improving tight junction proteins and down-regulating the inflammatory response. Therefore, P. pentosaceus L105 could be a promising probiotic in CDI.