Abstract
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is one of the infections that predispose pregnant women to preterm labour and post delivery complications. The use of antibiotics to treat the BV is not effective with high recurrent cases and antibiotic resistance. The alternative approach is to use Lactobacillus strains as potential probiotics for prophylaxis or for treatment of BV which is an option that generated this study. Six Lactobacillus strains were explored in terms of their capacity to inhibit two BV bacterial growths and to modify immunological responses the BV strains induced in the host. The THP-1 cell line and monocyte derived dendritic cells were used in vitro in order to closely resemble the in vivo situation of host. These cultured cells were exposed to BV bacteria alone or in combination with various strains of lactobacilli. Supernatants from these cultures were assayed for proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine content. Lactobacillus acidophilus was found to have the most potential as a probiotic to inhibit the BV bacteria using the bacterial interaction studies. The cytokines induced by the lactobacilli demonstrated that the different Lactobacillus strains affected the immune responses differently. They were found to induce both the pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses. An interesting trend towards the production of IL-10 was observed following exposure both THP-1 and monocyte-derived dendritic cells to L. gasseri and L. rhamnosus in combination with the BV bacteria. This promising result indicated that further research may lead to the identification of a potential probiotic to protect pregnant women who have BV.