Fig 6. Two doses of L. lactis-CFA/I fermented milk protect against CIA.

Groups of C57BL/6 mice (n = 8/group) were CII-challenged on day 0, and treated twice on days 18 and 22 with (A) L. lactis-CFA/I- or L. lactis vector-fermented milk that contained 2.5×10⁸ CFUs or treated with sterile PBS. Mice were monitored for disease until day 39 measuring (B) average clinical score (C) and incidence of arthritis. Arrows indicate days of fermented milk administration; * p ≤ 0.001 as compared to each control group. (D-G) LN CD4⁺ T cells isolated from each treatment group were restimulated with 50 μg CII in the presence of mitomycin C-treated Ag-presenting cells for 4 days. CIA mice treated with L. lactis-CFA/I fermented milk showed reduced LN (D) IFN-γ and (E) IL-17 production with concomitant increases in (F) IL-10 and (G) TGF-β; * p ≤ 0.001, ** p < 0.05 versus PBS-treated mice; and ⁺ p ≤ 0.001 versus L. lactis vector-treated mice.