Lactiplantibacillus plantarum GUANKE ameliorates influenza a virus-induced inflammation and lung barrier dysfunction through enhancing mitophagy and improving oxidative phosphorylation

Pulmonary inflammatory response represents a predominant complication arising from influenza virus infections. This investigation elucidates the protective efficacy of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum GUANKE (GUANKE) supplementation against influenza A virus (IAV)-induced pulmonary damage in C57BL/6 murine models, with particular emphasis on its mechanistic underpinnings. The results showed that the use of GUANKE (5 × 10⁹ CFU/day) or exogenous linoleic acid (a metabolite of GUANKE) supplementation (40 mg/kg) significantly attenuated inflammatory cytokine secretion while counteracting virus-mediated downregulation of pulmonary barrier proteins. Mechanistic profiling revealed that GUANKE and GUANKE-derived linoleic acid modulates mitochondrial quality control through enhanced Parkin-dependent mitophagy coupled with restored mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) capacity, thereby providing protection in IAV-infected mice.