Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Prebiotics, probiotics and synbiotics are known to have major beneficial effects on human health due to their ability to modify the composition and the function of the gut mucosa, the gut microbiota and the immune system. These components largely function in a healthy population throughout different periods of life to confer homeostasis. Indeed, they can modulate the composition of the gut microbiota by increasing bacteria strands that are beneficial for health, such as Firmicute and Bifidobacteria, and decreasing harmful bacteria, such as Enteroccocus. Their immunomodulation properties have been extensively studied in different innate cells (dendritic cells, macrophages, monocytes) and adaptive cells (Th, Treg, B cells). They can confer a protolerogenic environment but also modulate pro-inflammatory responses. Due to all these beneficial effects, these compounds have been investigated to prevent or to treat different diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, allergies, autoimmune diseases, etc. Regarding the literature, the effects of these components on dendritic cells, monocytes and T cells have been studied and presented in a number of reviews, but their impact on B-cell response has been less widely discussed. CONCLUSIONS: For the first time, we propose here a review of the literature on the immunomodulation of B-lymphocytes response by prebiotics, probiotics and synbiotics, both in healthy conditions and in pathologies. DISCUSSION: Promising studies have been performed in animal models, highlighting the potential of prebiotics, probiotics and synbiotics intake to treat or to prevent diseases associated with B-cell immunomodulation, but this needs to be validated in humans with a full characterization of B-cell subsets and not only the humoral response.