Probiotics & diarrhea     

A variety of probiotics show promise as therapies against diarrhea triggered by antibiotic exposure, according to a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

In the April 2006 issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology, Dr. Lynne V. McFarland of the University of Washington, Seattle notes that diarrhea is a common complication of antibiotic use. Moreover, Clostridium difficile disease, which is also induced by antibiotics, is a leading cause of nosocomial outbreaks of diarrhea and colitis.

As Dr. McFarland told Reuters Health, "as many as 30% of people taking antibiotics can develop diarrhea. In some cases, outbreaks of diarrhea will occur in hospitalized patients that can spread through the hospital and extend hospital stays and increase health care costs. Treatments for this type of diarrhea are limited."

To gain more information on the potential use of probiotics in helping to deal with these conditions, Dr. McFarland examined data from 31 published studies on the topic involving more than 3100 subjects. Pooled resulted showed that in 25 of the trials, use of probiotics significantly reduced the likelihood of antibiotic-associated diarrhea (relative risk 0.42). The other six studies showed that use of probiotics was similarly effective against C. difficile disease (relative risk 0.59).

Further analysis showed that Saccharomyces boulardii and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG as well as probiotic mixtures significantly reduced the development of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. However, only S. boulardii was effective against C. difficile disease.