<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> This is VERY interesting.... Does it work with celiac disease? --------- Diabetologia. 2005 Jun 29; [Epub ahead of print] Oral probiotic administration induces interleukin-10 production and prevents spontaneous autoimmune diabetes in the non-obese diabetic mouse. Calcinaro F, Dionisi S, Marinaro M, Candeloro P, Bonato V, Marzotti S, Corneli RB, Ferretti E, Gulino A, Grasso F, De Simone C, Di Mario U, Falorni A, Boirivant M, Dotta F. Department of Internal Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy. AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Recent observations suggest the involvement of the gastrointestinal tract in the pathogenesis of islet autoimmunity. Thus, the modulation of gut-associated lymphoid tissue may represent a means to affect the natural history of the disease. Oral administration of probiotic bacteria can modulate local and systemic immune responses; consequently, we investigated the effects of oral administration of the probiotic compound VSL#3 on the occurrence of diabetes in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice. METHODS: VSL#3 was administered to female NOD mice three times a week starting from 4 weeks of age. A control group received PBS. Whole blood glucose was measured twice a week. IFN-gamma and IL-10 production/expression was evaluated by ELISA in culture supernatants of mononuclear cells isolated from Peyer's patches and the spleen, and by real- time PCR in the pancreas. Insulitis was characterised by immunohistochemistry and histomorphometric studies. RESULTS: Early oral administration of VSL#3 prevented diabetes development in NOD mice. Protected mice showed reduced insulitis and a decreased rate of beta cell destruction. Prevention was associated with an increased production of IL- 10 from Peyer's patches and the spleen and with increased IL-10 expression in the pancreas, where IL-10-positive islet-infiltrating mononuclear cells were detected. The protective effect of VSL#3 was transferable to irradiated mice receiving diabetogenic cells and splenocytes from VSL#3- treated mice. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Orally administered VSL#3 prevents autoimmune diabetes and induces immunomodulation by a reduction in insulitis severity. Our results provide a sound rationale for future clinical trials of the primary prevention of type 1 diabetes by oral VSL#3 administration. PMID: 15986236 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher * * * *Support summarization of posts, reply to the SENDER not the CELIAC List*