Clinical effects of bifidobacterium preparations on pediatric intractable diarrhea.

Abstract

We investigated the effects of administration of Bifidobacterium prepara tions and commercially available Bifidus Yogurt on infantile intractable diarrhea. Fifteen patients with intractable diarrhea were treated from 1982 to 1985. These patients (11 boys and 4 girls) ranged in age from 1 month to 15 years (mean 2.5 years) and received antibiotic therapy for the treatment of such diseases as septicemia and respiratory tract infections. During treatment, waterly diarrhea appeared and lasted for 1 to 10 weeks (mean 25 days) with deterioration of the general condition. Conservative therapy such as diet control, infusion and drug therapy could not cure the diarrhea. The antibiotics used included cephems, penicillins and aminoglycocides. In most cases, abnormal microflora was ob served: Candida or Enterococcus often predominated with a marked decrease of anaerobes and aerobes in the stool flora. During the disease, we could not detect any pathogens or toxins responsible for the diarrhea. In all patients, the stool frequency and appearance were dramatically improved within 3 to 7 days after oral administration of Bifidobacterium preparations of bifidus yogurt. The intestinal microflora of all subjects also became normal with predominance of resident Bifidobacterium or administered B. breve.

Ecology of Bifidobacterium in the Human Intestinal Flora

“…This meant that the metabolic activities of intestinal flora re- turned to physiological conditions and the balance between the host and its intestinal physiology also returned to normal. In summary, as described in more detail elsewhere (11) , malabsorption of water and electrolytes, probably induced by antibiotic therapy, may be corrected through normal floral metabolic activities such as organic acid fermentation, bile acid metabolism, and utilization of mucin, resulting in a cure of diarrhea.…”

“…Recently, we investigated the effects of administration of Bifidobacterium preparations on infantile intractable diarrhea (11) . Fifteen patients (11 boys and 4 girls), ranging in age from 1 month to 15 years (mean 2.5 years), were receiving antibiotic therapy for the treatment of such diseases as septicemia and respiratory tract infections.…”

“…We have evidence of the feeding effects of Bifidobacterium on healthy humans with or without "Bifidus growth factor TOS" (12,23,25), and the therapeutic effects of administration of Bifidobacterium preparation or Bifidus yogurt on human diarrhea (11,27), constipation (24), and the management of hepatic encephalopathy with hyperammonemia (13) .…”

Inhibitory Effect of Bifidobacteria on the In Vitro Production of Verotoxins by Escherichia coli O157: H7

“…Tojo et al found that the long-term administration of Bifidobacterium breve was effective in decreasing the bacterial counts in the stool of patients infected with Campylobacter jejuni and in normalizing the intestinal flora of these patients (15). Hotta et al reported that the serial oral administration of bifidobacteria preparations was effective in the symptomatic treatment of infants with severe diarrhea and in the normalization of their intestinal flora (6). In previous studies, we confirmed that the serial administration of norfloxacin to germ-free mice infected with E. coli O157:H7 enhanced the production of verotoxins and resulted in the death of the mice (8).…”

Interrelationships between dairy product intake, microflora metabolism, faecal properties and plasmid dissemination in gnotobiotic mice

“…The decrease of diarrhoeic symptoms has been associated with the lowering of intestinal transit, and modification of the composition and metabolism of the microflora (Hotta et al 1987;Pochart et al 1989;Marteau et al 1990;Kaila et al 1992;Shermak et al 1995). Antimutagenic effects of dairy products are explained by a decrease in some enzymic activities (Goldin et al 1980(Goldin et al , 1992Goldin & Gorbach, 1984a,b;Lidbeck & Nord, 1991;Bartram et al 1994), and hypocholesterolemic properties have been correlated with their ability to metabolise cholesterol and bile salt (Gilliland et al 1985;Gilliland & Walker, 1990;Walker & Gilliland, 1993;Buck & Gilliland, 1994).…”