2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Elucidation of the organ-network between the mammary glands and intestine to enhance maternal immunity

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	17K19882
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Health science and related fields
Research Institution	Tohoku University
Principal Investigator	NOCHI TOMONORI 東北大学, 農学研究科, 准教授 (10708001)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	菅原準一東北大学, 東北メディカル・メガバンク機構, 教授 (60280880) 米山裕東北大学, 農学研究科, 教授 (10220774) 北澤春樹東北大学, 農学研究科, 教授 (10204885) 麻生久東北大学, 農学研究科, 教授 (50241625) 渡邊康一東北大学, 農学研究科, 助教 (80261494)
Project Period (FY)	2017-06-30 – 2020-03-31
Keywords	乳汁 / 乳腺 / 腸管 / 免疫 / 微生物
Outline of Final Research Achievements	In this study, we demonstrated the development of microbial environment in milk of humans, cows and mice, and such bacteria differ among the host species. Since the maternal immunity is affected by microorganisms that cohabit in the host, we tried to improve the microflora by inoculation of lactic acid bacteria (CRL1505) that has been used as a probiotics to stimulate mucosal immunity. However, the level of maternal antibody production was not changed by administration with CRL1505. Given that the disturbance of microflora affect the level of maternal IgA production in milk, these results suggested that some microorganisms (not lactic acid bacteria) present in mucosal tissues may be involved in inducing maternal antibody transfer to the offspring.
Free Research Field	粘膜免疫
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	今回の研究を通して、授乳期特有の免疫―微生物環境の実態を、哺乳動物の種を超えて明らかにすることができた。今後は、哺育の質向上（特に、母子移行抗体の質・量的向上）を可能にする微生物探索に向けた研究をさらに加速していく予定である。家畜生産における幼若家畜の健全育成は非常に重要であり、特に、母子の免疫機能強化を可能にする飼養管理技術の構築は近々の課題とされている。妊娠期・授乳期の家畜を対象とした母子移行型の免疫機能強化が可能になることで、家畜の生産性は大きく向上すると確信する。