Source:	BioMed Central
Date:	September 30, 2007

New Approach To Improving Diarrhea In Infants With
Probiotics
Science Daily — Each year more than half a million
infants worldwide, primarily in developing countries,
die from diarrhoea caused by rotavirus. Even in
industrialised countries management of the infection
costs economies about $1 billion a year. Now a study
in the journal, BMC Microbiology demonstrates that
with the addition of probiotic bacteria, preventative
measures can potentially be made far cheaper but just
as effective.

In a collaborative study by researchers investigating
rotaviral diarrhoea, 'good bacteria' (probiotics) were
combined with antibodies known to cure
rotaviral-caused diarrhoea, resulting in a reduced
incidence of gastro-intestinal infection in animal
model. The researchers found that the Lactobacillus
rhamnosus GG probiotic strain, in combination with a
lower dose than usual of antibodies, provides
protection against infection that is almost as
effective as a higher dose of the antibodies alone,
thus making a saving of up to 90% on antibodies to
treat diarrhoea.
The antibody chosen, hyperimmune bovine colostrums
(HBC), is known to be effective in clinical settings
as a cure of rotaviral diarrhoea, but is an expensive
treatment.
The research team led by Neha Pant at the Karolinska
Institute and the University of Linkoping in Sweden
and from the Nestle Research Center in Switzerland,
compared the efficacy of six probiotic bacteria in
combating diarrhoea in animal models. Research showed
that 59 percent of animal subjects did not develop
rotaviral diarrhoea when L. rhamnosus GG was given
before infection with rotavirus. In comparison, only 7
percent of mice escaped rotavirus infection without
prophylactic intervention. The other five probiotic
bacteria strains tested were either less efficacious
preventives or were not at all effective.
Armed with these results the team next tested the same
six probiotics strains as a prophylactic in
combination with the antibody, HBC. Crucially for the
potential of prophylactic combination therapy,
intestinal measurements of viral loads confirmed that
HBC in combination with L. rhamnosus GG provided
almost total protection at the low dose of 10 µg. If
administered alone a higher dose of 100 µg of the
antibody (HBC) is needed to be effective.
A dose of 100 µg is the most promising approach to
prophylaxis against rotaviral diarrhoea, but a
combination therapy of a low, 10 µg dose of HBC and L.
rhamnosus GG is nearly as effective. "The implications
of this study are very positive for low-income
countries" says Neha Pant "Antibodies and probiotics
could be used to complement the standard oral
rehydration therapy for fluid loss during diarrhea,
and may help to relieve the immense disease burden
posed by rotavirus in the developing world.

Article:  Effective prophylaxis against rotavirus
diarrhea using a combination of Lactobacillus
rhamnosus GG and antibodies. Neha Pant, Harold
Marcotte, Harald Bruessow, Lennart Svensson and
Lennart Hammarstrom,  BMC Microbiology (in press)

Note: This story has been adapted from material
provided by BioMed Central.

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
Mail all commands to [log in to unmask]
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or [log in to unmask])
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet or ([log in to unmask])
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]