According to researchers, the use of probiotics could reduce prescriptions for antibiotics

Researchers in the United States, England and the Netherlands report that the use of probiotics is linked to the reduction of antibiotic treatment needs in infants and children.

Their study, supported in part by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics and published in the European Journal of Public Health, showed that when the results of twelve studies were grouped together, the antibiotics they received probiotics as a daily health supplement. When the analysis was repeated with only studies of the highest quality, this percentage increased to 53%.

The results are very intriguing, say the researchers. "Given this discovery, one of the ways to reduce the use of antibiotics is to use probiotics regularly," says the study's principal investigator, Daniel Merenstein, MD, a professor in the department of Family Medicine, Georgetown School of Medicine. He is also director of the department's research programs.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States has about two million cases of antibiotic-resistant infections, resulting in 23,000 deaths. Reducing the use of antibiotics is a strategy to combat resistance.

"We already have evidence that the consumption of probiotics reduces the incidence, duration, and severity of certain types of common acute respiratory and gastrointestinal infections," Merenstein explains. "The question is whether this reduction is firmly related to the decline in the use of antibiotics, and we see that there is an association."

"Additional studies are needed at all ages, and especially in the elderly, to see if the use of sustainable probiotics is linked to an overall reduction in antibiotic prescriptions. In this case, this could have a huge impact on the use of probiotics in general practice, consumers in general, "says the study's lead author, Sarah King, PhD, of Cambridge, UK.

The way probiotics help fight infections, particularly those of the respiratory tract and lower digestive tract, is not clear. However, Merenstein says, "There are many potential mechanisms, such as the production of probiotics of pathogen inhibitors, immune regulation, among others.

"We do not know all the mechanisms that probiotic strains could use, but since most of the human immune system is found in the gastrointestinal tract, the ingestion of healthy bacteria can rule out bacterial pathogens linked to intestinal infections. . ," he says.

The probiotics used in the studies reviewed were strains of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.

In addition to King and Merenstein, the authors include Daniel Tancredi, PhD, from the University of California, Davis; Irene Lenoir-Wijnkoop, University of Utrecht, the Netherlands; Kelsie Gould, Hailey Vann and Grant Connors, MLS, Georgetown University; Mary Ellen Sanders, Ph.D., International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics; Jeffrey A. Linder, MD, MPH, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University; and Andi L. Shane, MD, MPH, Faculty of Medicine, Emory University.

Source: Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC)