Lactobacillus helveticus mitigates diarrhea and inflammation induced by enterotoxigenic E. coli through rebalance of gut microbiota

作者：Zhen Zhang, Jian‐Min Lv, Xin Wang, Ling Chun, Qiannan Yang, Huarui Zhao, Siming Xue, Ziyi Zhang, Xiaobo Liu, Shiwei Wang, Yanmei Sun · 发表于：Current Research in Food Science · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.crfs.2025.101147 · 被引用次数：7 · 研究领域：Clinical Nutrition and Gastroenterology、Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology、Probiotics and Fermented Foods

The probiotic potential and mechanisms of Lactobacillus helveticus against Escherichia coli (ETEC) induced diarrhea remain poorly understood, despite its robust physiological traits and long history of safe use. Here, we compared the anti-diarrheal efficacy of four L. helveticus strains (H1-H4) isolated from different geographical origins to unravel the mechanisms of action in ETEC-infected mice. Surprisingly, feeding with L. helveticus strains significantly reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), alleviated jejunal damage, and restored the colon length. Among them, L. helveticus H3 exhibited the best protective effects through upregulation of aquaporin 3 (AQP3) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) and downregulation of heat-stable enterotoxin (ST) and toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). Notably, ETEC infection disrupted intestinal homeostasis of microbiota by enriching Akkermansia and Escherichia-Shigella and suppressing Lactobacillus , Odoribacter , Alistipes , Ligilactobacillus , and Bifidobacterium ; whereas the supplementation with L. helveticus could effectively restore the balance of gut microbiota. Moreover, the strain H3 significantly enhanced the production of several short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including butyric, propionic, isobutyric, valeric, isovaleric, and caproic acids, compared to the others. Comparative genome analysis revealed that the strain H3 had more genes that likely contributed to SCFA pro...