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TL;DR
In an uncontrolled interventional study of 23 healthy volunteers, 21 days of oral probiotic E. coli (Symbioflor 2) increased fecal human β-defensin 2 peptide, with elevation still detectable 9 weeks after treatment.
Mucosal Immunology · 9 authors, 4 centres
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In an uncontrolled interventional study of 23 healthy volunteers, 21 days of oral probiotic E. coli (Symbioflor 2) increased fecal human β-defensin 2 peptide, with elevation still detectable 9 weeks after treatment.
Twenty-three healthy volunteers received oral Symbioflor 2, a viable E. coli probiotic mixture, for 21 days, with fecal hBD-2 peptide measured by ELISA at baseline, end of treatment, and 9 weeks post-treatment in a subset. After 3 weeks, fecal hBD-2 was increased in 78% of participants (mean 3.7-fold) and remained elevated 9 weeks after treatment stopped. Functional assays showed probiotic and commensal E. coli were similarly killed by hBD-2, hBD-3, and lysozyme, leading the authors to speculate a 'suicidal' host-defense role. The discussion acknowledges that luminal fecal measurements likely underestimate mucosal concentrations, and that no direct microbiota composition data were obtained.