title: Immune Modulation Capability of Exopolysaccharides Synthesised by Lactic Acid Bacteria and Bifidobacteria.
abstract: During recent years, the exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced by some strains of lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria have attracted the attention of researchers, mainly due to their potential technological applications. However, more recently, it has been observed that some of these EPS present immunomodulatory properties, which suggest a potential effect on human health. Whereas EPS from lactic acid bacteria have been studied in some detail, those of bifidobacteria largely remain uncharacterized in spite of the ubiquity of EPS genes in Bifidobacterium genomes. In this review, we have analysed the data collected in the literature about the potential immune-modulating capability of EPS produced by lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria. From this data analysis, as well as from results obtained in our group, a hypothesis relating the physicochemical characteristics of EPS with their immune modulation capability was highlighted. We propose that EPS having negative charge and/or small size (molecular weight) are able to act as mild stimulators of immune cells, whereas those polymers non-charged and with a large size present a suppressive profile.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry of Dairy Products, Instituto de Productos Lácteos de Asturias-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IPLA-CSIC), Paseo Río Linares s/n, 33300, Villaviciosa, Asturias, Spain.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hidalgo-Cantabrana
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry of Dairy Products, Instituto de Productos Lácteos de Asturias-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IPLA-CSIC), Paseo Río Linares s/n, 33300, Villaviciosa, Asturias, Spain.|Department of Functional Biology, University of Oviedo, Immunology Area, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: López
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry of Dairy Products, Instituto de Productos Lácteos de Asturias-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IPLA-CSIC), Paseo Río Linares s/n, 33300, Villaviciosa, Asturias, Spain.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gueimonde
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry of Dairy Products, Instituto de Productos Lácteos de Asturias-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IPLA-CSIC), Paseo Río Linares s/n, 33300, Villaviciosa, Asturias, Spain.
authors.forename: Clara G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: de Los Reyes-Gavilán
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Biology, University of Oviedo, Immunology Area, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Suárez
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry of Dairy Products, Instituto de Productos Lácteos de Asturias-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IPLA-CSIC), Paseo Río Linares s/n, 33300, Villaviciosa, Asturias, Spain.
authors.forename: Abelardo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Margolles
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry of Dairy Products, Instituto de Productos Lácteos de Asturias-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IPLA-CSIC), Paseo Río Linares s/n, 33300, Villaviciosa, Asturias, Spain. ruas-madiedo@ipla.csic.es.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ruas-Madiedo
keywords: Bifidobacteria; Exopolysaccharide; Immune response; Lactic acid bacteria; Probiotic