People with ulcerative colitis may benefit from taking the live, multi-strain probiotic drink to reduce intestinal inflammation, according to the results of a new study presented at Digestive Disease Week 2015.(1)
Researchers from King's College Hospital in London and Darent Valley Hospital in Kent in the UK conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of the live, multi-strain probiotic drink on patients with clinically-stable inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and found that patients with ulcerative colitis had significant reductions in fecal levels of calprotectin - a protein released by white blood cells in the intestine when it is inflamed. These findings suggest that it may help patients with ulcerative colitis to remain in clinical remission.
What is ulcerative colitis?
Ulcerative colitis is a life-long relapsing-remitting intestinal condition in which the colon and rectum become ulcerated and inflamed. The acute symptoms of ulcerative colitis include abdominal cramping, bloody diarrhea, and urgency to pass stools. Effective treatments for acute flare-ups include steroids, immune suppressants and biologics, but there remains a need for effective maintenance treatments to prevent clinical relapse of the disease.
Probiotics are believed by some to be symptomatically useful in patients with ulcerative colitis, with 51% of sufferers taking them in a bid to help manage their condition(2). However, not all probiotics contain multiple strains of live, active bacteria. The researchers used a live, multi-strain probiotic drink which the manufacturers believe can survive the harsh acidic environment of the stomach in order to flourish in the gut (3) and to improve symptom severity in people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).(4)
In the new study, 80 adults with ulcerative colitis (all in remission at the time of study entry) were randomized to receive either the live, multi-strain probiotic drink or a matching placebo drink for 1 month. Fecal calprotectin levels were measured before and after treatment. Reductions in calprotectin levels (intestinal inflammation) were observed in the majority (76%) of patients with ulcerative colitis who took the live, multi-strain probiotic drink for 4 weeks and the decrease in intestinal inflammation was significantly greater than in the placebo group.
References:
1. Sisson G, Hayee B, Bjarnason I. Assessment of a multi strain probiotic (Symprove) in IBD. Poster presentation at Digestive Disease Week 2015 (DDW2015), 16¬-19 May 2015, Washington DC, USA.
2. Hedin C, Mullard M, Sharratt E, Jansen C, Sanderson J, Shirlaw P, How L, Stagg A, Lindsay J, Whelan K. Probiotic and Prebiotic Use in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Case-Control Study. Inflammatory Bowel Disease 2010.
3. Fredua-Agyeman M, Gaisford S. Comparative survival of commercial probiotic formulations: tests in biorelevant gastric fluids and real-time measurements using microcalorimetry. Benefic Microbes 2015;6(1):141-51.
4. Sisson G, Ayis S, Sherwood RA, Bjarnason I. Randomised clinical trial: a liquid multi-strain probiotic vs. placebo in the irritable bowel syndrome - a 12-week double-blind study. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2014;40:51-62.