Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
Mucosal alkaline sphingomyelinase activity is reduced in the intestine of IL-10
knockout mice with colitis and in humans with UC. VSL#3 probiotic therapy upreg-
ulates mucosal alkaline sphingomyelinase activity.
73
It was found in a clinical trial
that oral administration of VSL#3 showed a relapse of chronic pouchitis in only
15 percent as compared to 100 percent relapse in placebo group.
6
Although more
convincing results are needed to confirm the advantages of using probiotics in IBD,
a trend toward the beneficial effects of bacterial supplementation as an adjuvant to
treatment is fast emerging.
65
However, two studies indicate the absence of effect of
L. johnsonii
LA1 and
LGG
in controlling CD.
74,75
18.3.1.12
helicobacter pylori
Infection
Helicobacter pylori
infection is a major cause of chronic gastritis and peptic
ulcer and a risk factor for gastric malignancies.
76
Although antibiotic therapy for
gastritis is quite often effective, eradication is not always achieved and reinfection
may occur. Several reports suggested that supplementation of anti-
H. pylori
therapy
with probiotics could be effective in increasing the eradication rates of
H. pylori
.
77
In vivo
models demonstrate the pretreatment with a probiotic can markedly reduce
an existing
H. pylori
infection and thus can be used as a prophylactic therapy for
H.
pylori
infections.
Lactobacillus reuteri
effectively suppressed
H. pylori
infection
in humans and decreased the occurrence of dyspeptic symptoms.
78
Ingestion of
L.
acidophilus
,
L. salivarius
, or
L. johnsonii
reduced the activity of
H. pylori
in the
stomach and attenuated
H. pylori
indicating an effect in the stomach as well. Two
randomized, controlled trails have reported that a fermented dairy product contain-
ing the strain
L. johnsonii
LA1 or a heat-killed
L. acidophilus
could help to decrease
the gastric colonization by
H. pylori
. The activity of 63 dairy starter cultures (single/
mixed), grown in skim milk, against five strains of
H. pylori
showed that skim milk
culture strongly inhibited this pathogen; although acids produced by the dairy lactics
were only partly responsible for the inhibitory action.
79
18.3.2 Nonintestinal Disorders
18.3.2.1 Allergy
Allergy, manifested in atopic diseases like atopic eczema, allergic rhinitis, and
asthma, currently represents a chronic disorder affecting 20 percent of the world
population especially in developed countries. It is the most common chronic disease
of childhood.
80
The hygiene hypothesis of allergy, the most appropriate explanation
for the rising frequency of atopic diseases, supposes that rapid increase in atopy is
related to reduced exposure to infections early in life, when the immune responder
phenotype is consolidated.
81
At the time of birth, the GIT of the newborn is sterile
and the gut-associated lymphatic tissue (GALT), the most important organ of the
adaptive immune system, is in the development stage (Figure 18.4). Concomitant to
the development of GALT, during the first months and years of life, an adult-type
pattern of stable indigenous gut microflora is established.
82,83
All infants are initially
