Supplementation with Probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum 299v in Men With Stable Coronary Artery Disease Suppresses Systemic Inflammation

Recent clinical trials demonstrate the efficacy of treatment strategies to reduce cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) that focus in reducing inflammatory signaling. Emerging data implicate the gut microbiota as a critical regulator of systemic inflammation. We recently demonstrated that supplementation with Lactobacillus plantarum 299v (Lp299v) improved vascular endothelial function in men with stable CAD. In this study we investigated whether the favorable effects of Lp299v on vascular health are due in part to coordinated suppression of systemic inflammation. We applied pre- and post-Lp299v supplementation plasma from these patients to peripheral blood mononuclear cells of a healthy donor to determine the transcriptional response to this intervention. UPN119 cells were stimulated with plasma samples obtained prior to and immediately following 6 weeks of Lp299v supplementation from 19 men with stable CAD (n=19 PRE, n=19 POST). Gene expression analysis was perfromed in order to evaluate induced overal transcriptome changes as well as inflammatory signature changes associated with post-Lp299v supplementation plasma.