Specific immunotherapy in combination with Clostridium butyricum inhibits allergic inflammation in the mouse intestine

The current therapy on allergic inflammation is unsatisfactory. Probiotics improve the immunity in the body. This study aims to test a hypothesis that administration with Clostridium butyricum (C. butyricum) enforces the effect of specific immunotherapy (SIT) on intestinal allergic inflammation. In this study, an ovalbumin (OVA) specific allergic inflammation mouse model was created. The mice were treated with SIT or/and C. butyricum. The results showed that the intestinal allergic inflammation was only moderately alleviated by SIT, which was significantly enforced by a combination with C. butyricum; treating with C. butyricum alone did not show much inhibitory efficacy. The increase in the frequency of the interleukin (IL)-10-producing OVA-specific B cell (OVAsBC) was observed in mice in parallel to the inhibitory effect on the intestinal allergic inflammation. The in vitro treatment of the OVAsBCs with OVA increased the histone deacetylase-1 (HDAC1) phosphorylation, modulated the transcription of the Bcl6 gene, and triggered the OVAsBCs to differentiate to the IgE-producing plasma cells. Exposure to both OVA and butyrate sodium in the culture increased the expression of IL-10 in OVAsBCs. In conclusion, administration with C. butyricum enforces the inhibitory effect of SIT on allergic inflammation in the mouse intestine.