Asthma Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Asthma, including details on symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, causes, medications.

Immunomodulatory effects of IL-12 secreted by Lactococcus lactis on Th1/Th2 balance in ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthma model mice.

Wu C, Yang G, Bermúdez-Humarán LG, Pang Q, Zeng Y, Wang J, Gao X

Department of Anesthesiology, First Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang.

Asthma is a chronic lung disease characterized by allergen-induced airway inflammation and orchestrated by Th2 cells. Interleukin-12, a Th1-promoting cytokine, is capable of inhibit the Th2-driven allergen-induced airway changes and therefore considered as an attractive molecule to treat asthma. Recent epidemiological and clinical studies suggest a possible role of Lactococcus lactis in the prevention of allergic diseases. In this study, we evaluated the immunomodulatory effects of live L. lactis secreting a biologically active form of IL-12 (LL-IL12) in a mouse model of ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthma. Intranasal mice administration with LL-IL12 resulted in a shift Th2 to Th1 with elevated IFN-gamma and decreased IL-4 levels. In addition, a profound decrease in airway hyper-responsiveness and pulmonary inflammation was also observed in mice administered with LL-IL12. These promising preclinical results suggest the feasibility of this approach to be used in the treatment of asthma.

Published 28 February 2006 in Int Immunopharmacol, 6(4): 610-5.
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