Effect of a probiotic food as an adjuvant to triple therapy for eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection in children

• Published in: Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.) Los Angeles County, Calif.), 2006-10, Vol.22 (10), p.984-988
• Main Authors: Goldman, Cinthia G., Barrado, Domingo A., Balcarce, Norma, Rua, Eduardo Cueto, Oshiro, Masaru, Calcagno, María L., Janjetic, Mariana, Fuda, Julián, Weill, Ricardo, Salgueiro, María J., Valencia, Mauro E., Zubillaga, Marcela B., Boccio, José R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Anti-Ulcer Agents - therapeutic use; Antibiotics; bacterial infections; Bifidobacterium - physiology; Bifidobacterium animalis; Biological and medical sciences; Breath Tests; Cancer; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; Combined Modality Therapy; Developed countries; drug adjuvants; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Drug therapy; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Food; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Helicobacter Infections - drug therapy; Helicobacter pylori; Helicobacter pylori - drug effects; Humans; Infections; lactic acid bacteria; Lactobacillus - physiology; Lactobacillus casei; Male; medical treatment; nutritional intervention; Probiotics; Proton Pump Inhibitors; Studies; Treatment Outcome; Triple therapy; Ulcers; Urea; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; yogurt; Yogurt - microbiology
• ISSN: 0899-9007; 1873-1244
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nut.2006.06.008

Current recommendations for treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection include a proton pump inhibitor in combination with two antibiotics. We evaluated the potential activity of a probiotic food as an adjuvant to antibiotic triple therapy for eradication of H. pylori infection in children from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Sixty-five children who tested positive for H. pylori, as diagnosed by 13C-urea breath test and endoscopy, were included in this study. Patients were randomized to receive 1-wk triple therapy plus probiotic food (treated group) or milk placebo (control) that was administered for 3 mo. Probiotic food consisted of 250 mL of a commercial yogurt containing Bifidobacterium animalis and Lactobacillus casei (10 7 colony-forming units/mL). Post-treatment urea breath test controls were performed 1 and 3 mo after the end of triple therapy. We found no significant differences in H. pylori eradication rates (ERs) at 1 and 3 mo between the treated group (ER = 45.5% and 42.4%) and the control group (ER = 37.5% and 40.6%). Relative risks between groups were 0.87 (95% confidence interval 0.58–1.32, P = 0.345) in the first month and 0.97 (95% confidence interval 0.64–1.46, P = 0.542) in the third month. We could not demonstrate an adjuvant effect of the studied probiotic food to triple therapy in the eradication of H. pylori infection in children in Buenos Aires, Argentina. However, we found lower ERs than those reported for the same therapeutic scheme in developed countries, indicating that bacterial resistance and alternative therapeutic strategies should be studied.