Agbemavor, Wisdom Selorm KofiBuys, E.M. (Elna Maria)2024-05-312024-05-312023-12Agbemavor, W.S.K.; Buys, E.M. Dynamic Interactions between Diarrhoeagenic Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli and Presumptive Probiotic Bacteria: Implications for Gastrointestinal Health. Microorganisms 2023, 11, 2942. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11122942.2076-2607 (online)10.3390/microorganisms11122942http://hdl.handle.net/2263/96323DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT: The supporting data for the results of this study can be found at https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.21746339.v1.This study delves into the temporal dynamics of bacterial interactions in the gastrointestinal tract, focusing on how probiotic strains and pathogenic bacteria influence each other and human health. This research explores adhesion, competitive exclusion, displacement, and inhibition of selected diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli (D-EAEC) and potential probiotic strains under various conditions. Key findings reveal that adhesion is time-dependent, with both D-EAEC K2 and probiotic L. plantarum FS2 showing increased adhesion over time. Surprisingly, L. plantarum FS2 outperformed D-EAEC K2 in adhesion and exhibited competitive exclusion and displacement, with inhibition of adhesion surpassing competitive exclusion. This highlights probiotics’ potential to slow pathogen attachment when not in competition. Pre-infecting with L. plantarum FS2 before pathogenic infection effectively inhibited adhesion, indicating probiotics’ ability to prevent pathogen attachment. Additionally, adhesion correlated strongly with interleukin-8 (IL-8) secretion, linking it to the host’s inflammatory response. Conversely, IL-8 secretion negatively correlated with trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER), suggesting a connection between tight junction disruption and increased inflammation. These insights offer valuable knowledge about the temporal dynamics of gut bacteria interactions and highlight probiotics’ potential in competitive exclusion and inhibiting pathogenic bacteria, contributing to strategies for maintaining gastrointestinal health and preventing infections.en© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.EAEC strainsLAB strainsInflammationIntestinal barrierTight junctionsCytokine secretionInterleukin-8 (IL-8)Bacterial infection dose (BID)Epithelial cellsAdhesion behaviourDiarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli (D-EAEC)Transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER)SDG-02: Zero hungerSDG-03: Good health and well-beingArticle