Probiotic Yeast Effective for Antibiotics-Induced Diarrhea

by | Apr 22, 2016 | 2015, Diarrhea, Probiotics

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Supplementation with S boulardii reduced the risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhea by 12.1% in 1653 children and 9.2% in 3,114 adults.

Antibiotic-associated diarrhea, characterized by abdominal pain, fever and bloody diarrhea, can affect as many as 70% of adults on antibiotics (1) and as many as 80% of children on antibiotics (2). It can occur as soon as a few hours after antibiotics are given or several months after antibiotics are stopped (3, 4).

Now a new study (5) suggests that probiotics, the “good bacteria” our digestive system needs to optimize our health (6), may help with antibiotic-associated diarrhea. In the review, researchers, analyzed 21 randomized, controlled trials of 4,780 subjects where the administration of S. boulardii was compared with placebo or no treatment.

The researchers found a significant effect of probiotic supplementation. Specifically, in the 1,653 children reviewed in the studies, S. boulardii reduced the risk from 20.9% to 8.8% (p = 0.01). In the 3,114 adults in the review, S. boulardii reduced the risk of antibiotics-induced diarrhea from 17.4% to 8.2% (p < 0.0001).

Regarding dosage, the researchers admitted an optimal dosage of S. boulardi “has not been established” but did state that “until more data become available, a daily dose of not less than 250 milligrams but not more than 500 mg in children and not more than 1000 mg in adults could be used.”

When suggesting how S. boulardi elicits these healthful effects, the researchers admit a definitive mechanism “remains unclear” but they cite research showing S. boulardi to block a receptor on the membrane of a toxin in the infectious bacteria C. difficile (7) as well as the increase in levels of an anti-toxix protein called IgA (8). In addition, lab studies have shown S. boulardi possesses anti-inflammatory properties by affecting a protein called MAP kinase that keeps inflammatory proteins called IL-8 and IL-1b at healthy levels (9). Finally, S. boulardi successfully competes with C. difficile to attachment sites on healthy cells (10, 11).

For the researchers, “This meta-analysis confirms that S. boulardii is effective in reducing the risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhea in children and adults.”

Source: Szajewska, H., and M. Kołodziej. “Systematic review with meta‐analysis: Saccharomyces boulardii in the prevention of antibiotic‐associated diarrhoea.” Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics 42.7 (2015): 793-801.

© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 793 doi:10.1111/apt.13344

Posted November 16, 2015.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com.

References:

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