Date of Award
2008
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Program
Microbiology and Immunology
Supervisor
Dr. Gregor Reid
Abstract
The aims of this thesis were to select probiotic bacteria with potential to confer anti-allergy effects, develop a food formulation to deliver the strains, then test the concept in humans. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Bifidobacterium adolescentis 7007-05 were selected and successfully incorporated into yogurt. A total of 95 subjects participated in three studies. Immunoglobulin, cytokine and chemokines proved to be poor markers for allergy. Subjects who consumed probiotic yogurt for two months during grass pollen season tended to have improvements in their symptoms and signs of allergy. This was not found during a similar study in the ragweed pollen season in 2007. In a randomized, placebo- controlled trial performed in Mwanza, Tanzania, Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 in capsule form were administered for 10 weeks to HIV-infected women. Treatment induced significant increases in CD4 ∞unts, but this was the only evidence for skewing towards a Th1 immune response.
Recommended Citation
Koyama, Tara Elizabeth, "Effects of Probiotics on Type 2 T Helper Skewed Immune Disorders; Including Allergic Rhinitis and Infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus" (2008). Digitized Theses. 4340.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/4340