Functional alteration of murine macrophages stimulated with extracellular polysaccharides from Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus OLL1073R-1

The murine macrophage line J774.1 was cultured in the presence of neutral polysaccharide (NPS) or phosphopolysaccharide (APS) produced by Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus OLL1073R-1. Alteration of macrophage functions induced by the extracellular polysaccharides was evaluated by observing changes in the morphology of cells, nitrite production by cells, and gene expression of cytokines. Treatment with APS caused the cells to morphologically change into an active form, while there was almost no stimulation of the cells by NPS. Neither NPS nor APS could induce nitric oxide production, but lipopolysaccharide (LPS) could. The mRNA expression of several cytokines was greater in cells stimulated with APS than in cells stimulated with NPS. When the cells were stimulated with APS at a concentration of 200 μg/ml for 12 h, strong IL-1α gene expression was detected. The expression of IL-6, IL-10, IL-12p40 and TNF-α on murine macrophages was also increased by APS, but that of IL-12p35 was decreased. It is concluded that APS produced by strain OLL1073R-1 enhances the functions of macrophages in a different manner from LPS.