Effects of Probiotic in Treatment of Persistent Diarrhea in Children

Summary

Persistent diarrhea is a common health problem worldwide, particularly in low-income countries. Approximately 3% to 20% of acute diarrhea episodes in children under 5 years of age become persistent diarrhea. Persistent diarrhea causes malnutrition, weight loss, and dehydration, as well as increasing treatment costs and the risk of mortality. One of the main causes of persistent diarrhea is the overgrowth and spread of bacteria, as well as viral infections that can disrupt the balance of microorganisms in the gut. Antibiotics are effective in treating bacterial infections that cause persistent diarrhea in children, but not against viral or parasitic infections. Overuse of antibiotics can lead to the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which poses a significant public health concern. Probiotics play a vital role in maintaining a healthy balance. Bacillus probiotic strains have an advantage over Lactobacillus probiotics as they can form spores that resist environmental stressors like heat, acid, and bile. This makes them more likely to survive the harsh conditions of the digestive tract and provide health benefits by reaching the intestines intact. Here, the investigators propose high-dose Bacillus spore probiotic supplementation as a potential solution for treating patients with persistent diarrhea. The aim of the study is to assess the efficacy of two types of Bacillus probiotics which conclude LiveSpo CLAUSY (2 billion B. clausii) and LiveSpo DIA 30 (5 billion B. subtilis, B. clausii and B. coagulans) in supporting the treatment of children with persistent diarrhea. Study Population: sample size is 150 patients and 30 healthy children. The study is carried out at Vietnam National Children's Hospital. Description of Study Intervention: Totally 150 eligible patients are divided randomly into 3 groups (n = 50/group each): Patients in the Control group received the routine treatment and 2-3 times/day RO water while the patients in the probiotics group received 2-3 times/day LiveSpo DIA 30 or LiveSpo CLAUSY in addition to the same standard of care treatment. The standard treatment regimen is 5-9 days but can be extended further depending on the severity of the patient. Healthy children are grouped into the "Healthy" group solely for the purpose of comparing the microbiota between healthy children with those patients before and after treatment. Therefore, the Healthy group does not receive any intervention. Study duration: 18 months

Timeline

Start

2022-07-01

Primary completion

2023-12-25

Completion

2024-11-25

Publications

• Results Sarker SA, Ahmed T, Brussow H. Persistent diarrhea: a persistent infection with enteropathogens or a gut commensal dysbiosis? Environ Microbiol. 2017 Oct;19(10):3789-3801. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.13873. Epub 2017 Sep 14.
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• Results Ugboko HU, Nwinyi OC, Oranusi SU, Oyewale JO. Childhood diarrhoeal diseases in developing countries. Heliyon. 2020 Apr 13;6(4):e03690. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03690. eCollection 2020 Apr.
• Results Abba K, Sinfield R, Hart CA, Garner P. Pathogens associated with persistent diarrhoea in children in low and middle income countries: systematic review. BMC Infect Dis. 2009 Jun 10;9:88. doi: 10.1186/1471-2334-9-88.
• Results Olvera-Rosales LB, Cruz-Guerrero AE, Ramirez-Moreno E, Quintero-Lira A, Contreras-Lopez E, Jaimez-Ordaz J, Castaneda-Ovando A, Anorve-Morga J, Calderon-Ramos ZG, Arias-Rico J, Gonzalez-Olivares LG. Impact of the Gut Microbiota Balance on the Health-Disease Relationship: The Importance of Consuming Probiotics and Prebiotics. Foods. 2021 Jun 2;10(6):1261. doi: 10.3390/foods10061261.
• Results Guo Q, Goldenberg JZ, Humphrey C, El Dib R, Johnston BC. Probiotics for the prevention of pediatric antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2019 Apr 30;4(4):CD004827. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD004827.pub5.
• Results Tridip K. Das, Shrabani Pradhan, Sudipta Chakrabarti, Keshab Chandra Mondal, Kuntal Ghosh, Current status of probiotic and related health benefits, Applied Food Research, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2022, 100185, ISSN 2772-5022
• Dang HT, Phung TTB, Tran DM, Bui ATP, Vu YH, Luong MT, Nguyen HM, Trinh HT, Vo HTN, Nguyen TTT, Nguyen AH, Tung PD, Tran LH, Van Nguyen AT. High-dose multi-strain Bacillus probiotics enhance treatment and reduce antibiotic usage in children with persistent diarrhea through immune and microbiota modulation. Sci Rep. 2025 Aug 18;15(1):30231. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-15199-y.
• Dang HT, Tran DM, Phung TTB, Bui ATP, Vu YH, Luong MT, Nguyen HM, Trinh HT, Nguyen TT, Nguyen AH, Van Nguyen AT. Promising clinical and immunological efficacy of Bacillus clausii spore probiotics for supportive treatment of persistent diarrhea in children. Sci Rep. 2024 Mar 18;14(1):6422. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-56627-9.

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