Effects of Oral Administration of <i>Lactobacillus acidophilus</i> L-92 on the Symptoms and Serum Markers of Atopic Dermatitis in Children

Abstract

Background: Few studies have investigated the complementary effects of long-term oral administration of Lactobacillus acidophilus on traditional medical therapy in the treatment of patients with atopic dermatitis (AD). Methods: The Atopic Dermatitis Area and Severity Index was used to evaluate AD severity. Symptom severity was assessed using the symptom score. The effect of medical therapy was evaluated by adding the medication score, calculated as the sum of each product of the amount of steroid ointment used for therapy and its designated strength graded on a 4-point scale, to the symptom score. The complementary effect of long-term oral administration of L. acidophilus strain L-92 (L-92) as a probiotic or biogenic strain in patients with AD was evaluated using the symptom-medication score, which was calculated as the sum of the symptom score and medication score. Both a preliminary casuistic study and a double-blinded, placebo-controlled study were performed to evaluate the effects of L-92 on the symptoms of AD in children. Results: Orally administered L-92 significantly ameliorated the symptoms of AD in Japanese children. L-92 also affected the serum concentrations of thymus and activation-regulated chemokine in a time-dependent manner.Conclusions: The results of the preliminary trial and the double-blinded, placebo-controlled study revealed a complementary effect of oral L-92 on the standard medical therapy (topical application of a steroid ointment) in patients with AD that was mediated, at least in part, by alterations in the Th1/Th2 balance.

Scoping systematic review of treatments for eczema

“…Sixteen [289][290][291][292][293][294][295][296][297][298][299][300][301][302][303][304] new trials were reported after 2000. Nearly all of the 16 trials reported compared a probiotic against an inactive placebo or occasionally against no treatment.…”

“…Only one trial compared two strains of probiotics in hydrolysed milk formula against each other and a placebo of maltodextrin in a three-arm comparison trial. 302 In 13 [289][290][291][292][293][295][296][297][298]300,302 of the 16 trials the participants were children, particularly infants. Only three trials, 294,299,301 conducted in Japan and Italy, included adult participants.…”

“…A trial by Torii and colleagues 296 conducted in Japan compared heat-treated L. acidophilus L-92 given for 8 weeks against placebo in 60 children with eczema who were tolerant to cow's milk. The severity of eczema, measured using an adaptation of the Atopic Dermatitis Area and Severity Index (ADASI), significantly decreased over time in the treatment group compared with the placebo group (p = 0.0474).…”

Intestinal microbiota during early life – impact on health and disease

“…These effects can be related to the probiotic effects on the hosts' immunological functions such as improvement of the barrier function and increasing allergen-specific IgA levels, which are essential for the development of tolerance and can be considered as a marker for immune maturation (113,134,135,(137)(138)(139) . Furthermore, probiotics have been suggested to have immunomodulatory impacts that affect the Th1/Th2 balance such as stimulation of Th1-type immune responses, induction of apoptosis of Th2 cells and induction of regulatory T and dendritic cells (16,138,(140)(141)(142)(143)(144) .…”

Probiotics in allergy treatment: a literature review

“…They observed that the probiotic had potential to improve symptoms in atopic dermatitis 46 . Han et al 47 showed effect on treatment of atopic dermatitis in children (18 moths-13 years old) when used 0.5x10 10 …”