Ability of Clostridium butyricum to inhibit Escherichia coli-induced apoptosis in chicken embryo intestinal cells

The beneficial effects of Clostridium butyricum in the treatment of intestinal inflammatory disorders are well known. However, it is not fully understood how such bacteria inhibit pathogen-induced intestinal diseases. For this purpose, we investigated the effects of C. butyricum and its spent culture supernatants (SCS) on Escherichia coli (EHEC) growth and adherence to chicken embryo intestinal cells (CEICs). We also evaluated the potential of C. butyricum to inhibit EHEC-induced apoptosis in CEICs. C. butyricum and its SCS exhibited significant inhibitory activity on EHEC growth and adherence to CEICs. C. butyricum also showed a significant inhibitory effect on EHEC-induced apoptosis by modulating the expression of XIAP (X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein), BclXL (B-cell lymphoma-extra large), FAS, Bcl2 (B-cell leukemia/lymphoma-2), BAX (Bcl-2-associated X protein), P53 (Tumor protein 53) and via inhibition of caspase-9 and caspase-3 activation. These results together indicate that C. butyricum possesses the ability to prevent EHEC-induced intestinal disorders both directly, through inhibiting EHEC viability, and indirectly, via medicating EHEC-induced apoptosis. These observations may help explain the beneficial properties of C. butyricum. Furthermore, our data is novel in the case of poultry and the manner in which C. butyricum prevents the EHEC-induced apoptosis provides supportive information for the treatment of colibacillosis in poultry.