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Journal of Tropical Pediatrics Advance Access originally published online on February 8, 2009
Journal of Tropical Pediatrics 2009 55(5):297-301; doi:10.1093/tropej/fmp001
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© The Author [2009]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Dose-dependent effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus on quantitative reduction of faecal rotavirus shedding in children

Shiuh-Bin Fanga,b, Hung-Chang Leec,d, Jen-Jan Hua, Shao-Yi Houe, Hsuan-Liang Liue and Hsu-Wei Fange

aDepartment of Paediatrics, Taiwan Adventist Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
bCentre for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Royal Free and University College Medical School, London, UK
cDepartment of Paediatrics, Mackay Memorial Hospital
dDepartment of Paediatrics, Taipei Medical University
eInstitute of Biotechnology, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan

Correspondence: Hsu-Wei Fang, PhD, Institute of Biotechnology, National Taipei University of Technology, 1, Section 3, Chung Hsiao East Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan. E-mail <hwfang{at}ntut.edu.tw>.


  Abstract

Beneficial effects of probiotics in acute infectious diarrhoea in children are mainly seen in watery diarrhoea and viral gastroenteritis. Lactobacillus rhamnosus, one the most extensively studied probiotic strains, is effective in shortening courses of acute diarrhoea in children. However, the dose-dependent effect of Lactobacillus upon quantification of faecal rotavirus shedding in humans remains little known. Thus, an open-label randomized trial in 23 children with acute rotaviral gastroenteritis was undertaken by randomly allocating patients to receive one of the three regimens for 3 days: daily Lactobacillus rhamnosus 35 (Lcr35) with 0 CFU/day to six patients in the control group, 2 x 108 CFU/day to nine patients in the low-dose group, and 6 x 108 CFU/day to eight patients in the high-dose group. Faecal samples were collected before and after the 3-day regimen for measurements of rotavirus concentrations by ELISA. There was no statistically significant change in faecal rotavirus concentrations in either the control group (119.2 x 105 particles/ml vs. 23.7 x 105 particles/ml, p = 0.075) or the low-dose group (36.1 x 105 particles/ml vs. 73.5 x 105 particles/ml, p = 0.859). However, the high-dose group had a significant reduction of faecal rotavirus concentration (64.2 x 105 particles/ml vs. 9.0 x 105 particles/ml, p = 0.012). Without any exception, the faecal rotavirus concentrations of all eight patients in the high-dose Lcr35 group declined by 86% after 3 days when compared with those before Lcr35 administration. In conclusion, this is the first report to provide quantitative evidence of the dose-dependent effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus, a minimal effective dose of 6 x 108 CFU for 3 days, upon the faecal rotavirus shedding in paediatric patients.

Key Words: Dose-dependent • Lactobacillus rhamnosus • rotavirus • virus shedding • ELISA


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