Immunobiotic and recombinant lactic acid bacteria: soldiers in the fight against Streptococcus pneumoniae

Abstract

Respiratory infections are a persistent public health problem and despite the remarkable advances in antibiotic therapies, diagnostic tools, prevention campaigns and intensive care, they are among the main causes of death in the world. Streptococcus pneumoniae remain the leading cause of respiratory infections in children younger than 2 years old, elderly and immunocompromised patients. In the last years many efforts have been made to unravel the mechanisms of beneficial bacteria activity and various experimental approaches have been developed to characterize the molecular basis of these effects. Significant progress has been made in the knowledge of the mechanisms of beneficial bacteria action in the gut, and recently great advances have been performed in the knowledge of how orally or nasally administered beneficial bacteria stimulate immunity in the respiratory tract. The purpose of this work is to review the current knowledge on the effects of probiotics, recombinant lactic acid bacteria and commensal respiratory bacteria on Streptococcus pneumoniae infection, and to provide insights on the possible cellular and molecular mechanisms of action, especially those affecting the respiratory immune system.