2. Academic Validation
  3. Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis BX-BC08 modulates gut microbiota and secretes alpha-Ketoglutaric acid to alleviate MC903-induced atopic dermatitis

Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis BX-BC08 modulates gut microbiota and secretes alpha-Ketoglutaric acid to alleviate MC903-induced atopic dermatitis

  • J Transl Med. 2025 Jul 10;23(1):768. doi: 10.1186/s12967-025-06769-9.
Jiamin Zhao # 1 2,  Ling Kui # 3,  Jinqun Huang 2 4,  Jie Deng 1,  Lingjun Liu 1,  Chenwei Zhu 1,  Yanqiang Shi 1,  Chengyi Li 1,  Yue Xiao 5,  Jinshi Yu 3,  Qing Li 6,  Bin Yang 7,  Bingfeng Leng 8 9,  Hung Chan 10 11
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Dermatology Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
  • 2 Hong Kong Rising Biotechnology Co. Limited, Hong Kong, China.
  • 3 Dermatology Department & Medical Cosmetology Department, Shenzhen Qianhai Shekou Free Trade Zone Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
  • 4 Shenzhen Beichen Biotech Co., Ltd, Shenzhen, China.
  • 5 Department of Dermatology and Venereology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
  • 6 Dermatology Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China. drliqing@smu.edu.cn.
  • 7 Dermatology Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China. yangbin1@smu.edu.cn.
  • 8 Hong Kong Rising Biotechnology Co. Limited, Hong Kong, China. lengbingfeng@vip.sina.cn.
  • 9 Shenzhen Beichen Biotech Co., Ltd, Shenzhen, China. lengbingfeng@vip.sina.cn.
  • 10 Dermatology Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China. huchan@health.ucsd.edu.
  • 11 University of California San Diego, San Diego. La Jolla, CA, USA. huchan@health.ucsd.edu.
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 40640914 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-025-06769-9
Abstract

Objective: Bifidobacterium is known to be depleted in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD). This study aims to investigate the potential prophylactic effects of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BX-BC08 (B. lactis BX-BC08) in a murine model of AD.

Design: The immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory effects of BX-BC08 were evaluated in a MC903-induced AD mouse model. Gut microbiota composition was analyzed by metagenomic Sequencing, while high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) was employed to identify anti-inflammatory molecules produced by B. lactis BX-BC08.

Results: BX-BC08 significantly attenuated pro-inflammatory responses, scaling and swelling in the MC903-induced AD like murine model compared to controls. Fecal microbial profiling revealed an enrichment of probiotics and a reduction of pro-inflammatory bacteria in BX-BC08 treated mice. Metabolic analysis of BX-BC08 bacteria culture supernatant and treated mice identified a significant enrichment of alpha-Ketoglutaric acid (AKG). Functional validation in the murine AD model demonstrated that AKG strongly suppressed T helper 2 (Th2)-driven pro-inflammatory responses.

Conclusion: BX-BC08 mitigates AD-like inflammation by producing the anti-inflammatory metabolite AKG. BX-BC08 could serve as a novel prophylactic agent for AD prevention.

Keywords

Bifidobacterium; Atopic dermatitis (AD); BX-BC08; Probiotics; Skin-gut axis; alpha-Ketoglutaric acid (AKG).

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