Probiotics Prevent Hypertension in a Murine Model of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Induced by Toll-Like Receptor 7 Activation de la Visitación, Néstor Robles Vera, Iñaki Moleón Moya, Javier Sánchez Santos, Manuel Jiménez Moleón, Rosario Gómez Guzmán, Manuel González Correa, Cristina Olivares, Mónica Romero Pérez, Miguel Duarte Pérez, Juan Manuel Probiotics Hypertension Endothelial dysfunction TLR7 activation Lupus This work was supported by Grants from Comision Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnologia, Ministerio de Economia y competitividad (SAF2017-84894-R), Junta de Andalucia (CTS-164) with funds from the European Union, and by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBER-CV; Ciberes), Spain. M.T. is a postdoctoral fellow of Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Sara Borrell Program). I.R.-V., and JM-M are predoctoral fellow of MINECO. The cost of this publication was paid in part with funds from the European Union (Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, FEDER, "FEDER una manera de hacer Europa"). Our group tested the effects of Lactobacillus fermentum CECT5716 (LC40) and/or Bifidobacterium breve CECT7263 (BFM) in the prevention of gut dysbiosis, hypertension and endothelial dysfunction in a pharmacologically-induced model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We treated eight-week-old BALB/cByJRj mice without (Ctrl) or with the agonist of TLR-7 Imiquimod (IMQ) for 8 weeks. Concomitantly, LC40 (109 CFU/mL) and BFM (109 CFU/mL) were administered through oral gavage once a day. IMQ induced intestinal dysbiosis consisting of a decrease in the -diversity measured with Chao-richness and numbers of species. LC40 and BFM did not restore these parameters. The three-dimensional principal component analysis of bacterial taxa in stool samples presented perfect clustering between Ctrl and IMQ groups. Clusters corresponding to LC40 and BFM were more akin to IMQ. BFM and LC40 were detected colonizing the gut microbiota of mice treated respectively. LC40 and BFM decreased plasma double-stranded DNA autoantibodies, and B cells in spleen, which were increased in the IMQ group. Also, LC40 and BFM treatments activated TLR9, reduced T cells activation, and Th17 polarization in mesenteric lymph nodes. Aortae from IMQ mice displayed a decreased endothelium-dependent vasodilator response to acetylcholine linked to pro-inflammatory and pro-oxidative status, which were normalized by both BFM and LC40. In conclusion, we demonstrate for the first time that the chronic treatment with LC40 or BFM prevented hypertension and endothelial dysfunction in a mouse lupus model induced by TLR-7 activation. 2021-10-07T12:15:27Z 2021-10-07T12:15:27Z 2021-07-31 info:eu-repo/semantics/article de la Visitación, N... [et al.]. Probiotics Prevent Hypertension in a Murine Model of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Induced by Toll-Like Receptor 7 Activation. Nutrients 2021, 13, 2669. [https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13082669] http://hdl.handle.net/10481/70726 10.3390/nu13082669 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Atribución 3.0 España MDPI