sodium-propionate and Keratitis--Herpetic

This report evaluates a dietary manipulation approach to suppress the severity of ocular infections caused by herpes simplex virus infection. The virus causes chronic damage to the cornea that results from a T-cell-orchestrated inflammatory reaction to the infection. Lesion severity can be limited if cells with regulatory activity predominate over proinflammatory T cells and nonlymphoid inflammatory cells. In this report, we show that this outcome can be achieved by including the short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) salt sodium propionate (SP) in the drinking water. Animals given the SP supplement developed significantly fewer ocular lesions than those receiving no supplement. Corneas and lymphoid organs contained fewer CD4 Th1 and Th17 T cells, neutrophils, and macrophages than those of controls, but a higher frequency of regulatory T cells (Treg) was present. The inclusion of SP in cultures to induce CD4 T cell subsets

Topics: Animals; Cells, Cultured; Cornea; Dietary Supplements; Fatty Acids, Volatile; Herpesvirus 1, Human; Keratitis, Herpetic; Macrophages; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Neutrophils; Propionates; T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory