Infant formulae and food products marketed for children have been increasingly supplemented with probiotics and/or prebiotics. A vast number of studies have accounted for the transit of probiotic use from alternative to more evidence-based medicine. Data support the use of certain probiotics for the adjunct treatment of acute viral gastroenteritis, and for prevention of gastrointestinal diseases. Further roles of prebiotics and probiotics are seen in the prevention of overall infectious diseases and respiratory infections. Data from well-conducted randomized-controlled trials support the therapeutic role for probiotics toward necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants. However, it is difficult to translate heterogeneous-based study results, which are mainly due to varying genera, strains, doses, study settings and measured outcomes, into evidence-based recommendations. This article focuses on the evidence of clinical benefits of prebiotics, probiotics and synbiotics toward prevention and treatment of pediatric infectious diseases.

Systemic Candidia infections are of major concern in neonates, especially in those with risk factors such as longer use of broad spectrum antibiotics. Recent studies showed that also term babies with underlying gastrointestinal or urinary tract abnormalities are much more prone to systemic Candida infection. We report a very rare case of candidiasis caused by Candida kefyr in a term neonate.

The highly perfused choroid plexus (CP), located in the ventricular system of the brain, consists of several structural components, including a cuboid epithelium and a fenestrated endothelium, and is the location of the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB). To investigate the CP in vitro, several different cell culture setups are conceivable. An inverted cell culture filter model with strong barrier function, based on human epithelial CP papilloma (HIBCPP) cells, was established by our laboratory and is used extensively. Recently, we were able to generate a stable immortalized human CP endothelial cell line (iHCPEnC). Combining both cell lines, we have assembled an advanced functional two-cell-type model that developed an increased barrier function compared to HIBCPP cells alone. Since this model represents both the CP epithelium and endothelium, it allows for the investigation of the interplay between the two cell types under selected conditions, such as infection, inflammation, or others. In this protocol, we describe methods to set up this two-cell-type model with subsequent separation of the epithelial and endothelial cells for transcriptional analyses. We describe PCR primers specific for epithelium and endothelium, which serve to detect possible cross-contamination between the two cell types. To investigate a possible impact of the CP endothelium on the epithelium in this model under inflammatory conditions, the expression levels of selected genes in the context of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment were analyzed in the HIBCPP cell fraction. The advanced CP in vitro model and the possibility to separately analyze epithelial and endothelial responses are of significant interest for research on cellular processes involving biological and pathological functions of the CP.

The highly perfused choroid plexus (CP), located in the ventricular system of the brain, consists of several structural components, including a cuboid epithelium and a fenestrated endothelium, and is the location of the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB). To investigate the CP in vitro, several different cell culture setups are conceivable. An inverted cell culture filter model with strong barrier function, based on human epithelial CP papilloma (HIBCPP) cells, was established by our laboratory and is used extensively. Recently, we were able to generate a stable immortalized human CP endothelial cell line (iHCPEnC). Combining both cell lines, we have assembled an advanced functional two-cell-type model that developed an increased barrier function compared to HIBCPP cells alone. Since this model represents both the CP epithelium and endothelium, it allows for the investigation of the interplay between the two cell types under selected conditions, such as infection, inflammation, or others. In this protocol, we describe methods to set up this two-cell-type model with subsequent separation of the epithelial and endothelial cells for transcriptional analyses. We describe PCR primers specific for epithelium and endothelium, which serve to detect possible cross-contamination between the two cell types. To investigate a possible impact of the CP endothelium on the epithelium in this model under inflammatory conditions, the expression levels of selected genes in the context of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment were analyzed in the HIBCPP cell fraction. The advanced CP in vitro model and the possibility to separately analyze epithelial and endothelial responses are of significant interest for research on cellular processes involving biological and pathological functions of the CP.