Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Can Probiotics Help With Ulcerative Colitis

A Look At The Intestinal Flora Of Ibd Patients

Ulcerative Colitis, IBD And The Best PROBIOTICS You Need

It has been hypothesised for many years that alterations to the intestinal bacterial flora may contribute to the onset and progression of IBD. This is a theory that is now supported by clinical evidence, as several different research studies have found the composition of gut flora to be very different in IBD patients to healthy control patients. Three separate trials1,2,3all found greater numbers of anaerobic bacteria in faecal samples taken from Crohns disease patients than in healthy controls, with particularly elevated levels of Bacteroides .

Contrary to these studies, Giaffer et al4 found no difference in total anaerobes between active CD patients, inactive CD patients and healthy controls, but they did find more aerobes and Enterobacteria in active CD, and fewer Lactobacilli in CD patients than healthy controls.

Other research groups have focused their studies into the presence of possible pathogens in IBD, such as bacteria from the Mycobacteria and Listeria genus.

To date, the results from many of these studies are difficult to interpret and often contradictory. Imbalances in gut flora are generally found, supporting the theory that intestinal flora contributes to the pathogenesis of IBD, but the bacterial species involved often differs.

Food Sources Of Probiotics

Probiotics found in common food items are also a good source of healthy bacteria for your gut.

You never know which foods might trigger a UC flare though, so start out slowly and keep a food diary to record when you decide to introduce new items to your diet.

Some good probiotic-rich foods to try are:

  • Yogurt
  • Other fermented milk products such as kefir or Yakult a great source of calcium for the lactose intolerant
  • Sauerkraut
  • Other fermented foods you can make at home
  • Tempeh and miso , which are also good sources of protein

A lot of yogurts youll find in the grocery store are overheated during production, which kills healthy bacteria. To get the most from a yogurt, look for one that contains the live and active cultures seal and includes lactobacillus and/or Bifidobacterium.

Everyones UC triggers are different, and some of these recommended probiotic foods might be a no-go for you.

Probiotics For Maintenance Of Remission In Ulcerative Colitis

What is the aim of this review?

The aim of this Cochrane Review was to find out whether probiotics can maintain remission in people with ulcerative colitis. We collected and analysed data from 12 studies with a total of 1473 people to answer this question.

Key messages

The question on whether probiotics can maintain remission in people with ulcerative colitis remains unanswered. There were no serious adverse events when probiotics were compared with placebo. However, one study reported similar numbers of serious adverse events in people who had probiotics and those who received 5aminosalicylic acid (5ASA, an antiinflammatory medicine used to treat ulcerative colitis and other conditions. . More information as to what these serious adverse events are, was not provided.

What was studied in the review?

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic disease of the large bowel, which causes inflammation . Some of the symptoms include tummy pain, diarrhoea and tiredness. Probiotics are living microscopic organisms that are thought to change the growth of bacteria in the bowel and reduce inflammation.

What are the main results of the review?

1) There was no clear difference in the number of people who had a clinical relapse when probiotics were compared with placebo.

2) There was also no clear difference in the number of people who had a clinical relapse when probiotics were compared with 5ASA.

How uptodate is this review?

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Sulfa Drugs Nsaids Who Needs Em Ive Got Yoghurt For My Ibd

For those of you amused by the absurdity of such a notion, there may be more to this statement than you might think. With the rapidly growing threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, medical researchers have been directing their attention to probiotic therapy as a means of getting the upper hand on the antibiotic dilemma. Probiotic therapy is a relatively new frontier of investigation whereby you ingest living, non-pathogenic bacteria in order to prevent or relieve a variety of human ailments. There is a wide array of probiotic products being marketed as treatments for gastrointestinal diseases including specially formulated yoghurts. However, contrary to their claims, studies have demonstrated that many of these products do not have the capacity to exert a significant therapeutic benefit.

Safety is just one of the characteristics of probiotic selection. Other traits that an ideal probiotic would possess in order to better perform their therapeutic role include:

  • the ability to survive the harsh travel conditions of the upper GI tract on the way to their site of action,
  • the ability to adhere to the epithelial walls of the intestine and colonize,
  • the ability to compete with pathogenic microorganisms for nutrients and colonization sites,
  • the ability to secrete antibiotic-like substances called bacteriocins, and
  • the ability to provide nutritional services via the synthesis of vitamins1.

Medications To Treat Crohns Disease And Ulcerative Colitis

Can Probiotics Help Ulcerative Colitis and Improve ...

We work with our patients to develop treatment to control the disease taking patient preference and personal goals into consideration. We also work with your other providers to minimize drug interaction and make sure that IBD treatment does not compromise the care of your other health concerns.

A full-time clinical pharmacist is available for staff and patients alike to discuss treatment options and provide patient education and resources. You may see the clinical pharmacist one-on-one for the first doses of medication injections. The pharmacist can also work with you to quit smoking and can provide complete medication reviews to assist with medication compliance and understanding.

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Is Ulcerative Colitis Curable

Currently, theres no nonsurgical cure for UC. Treatments for the inflammatory disease aim to extend periods of remission and make flare-ups less severe.

For people with severe UC, curative surgery is a treatment option. Removing the entire large intestine will end the symptoms of UC.

This procedure requires your doctor to create a pouch on the outside of your body where waste can empty. This pouch can become inflamed and cause side effects.

For that reason, some people choose to have only a partial colectomy. In this surgery, your doctor only removes the parts of the colon that are affected by UC.

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The Downside Of Probiotics For Ulcerative Colitis

Depending on your personal gut microbiome, which contains 10 to 100 trillion bacteria, probiotics could make symptoms worse. Certain probiotics for certain people can also lead to more gas, more bloating, and looser stools, Hudesman says. We see that a lot.

We know the intestinal flora is very important to the development of IBD, says Jessica Philpott, MD, PhD, a gastroenterologist who specializes in IBD at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. But more research is needed to have a better understanding of how to adjust the intestinal flora either with probiotic supplements, medications, or foods to treat or even prevent IBD.

Probiotics could even make your UC worse. If youre very sick with severe colitis and use probiotics rather than known, effective therapies, you might incur some harm in delaying to treat the colitis, Dr. Philpott says.

Another downside: Probiotics are sold as dietary supplements, which are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration . In fact, the FDA has not approved probiotics to prevent or treat any health condition as of yet. There are numerous probiotic therapies with many different types of bacteria, numbers, and delivery agents, Philpott says. One probiotic may provide health benefits in a certain environment, while another probiotic strain may not.

When I talk with UC patients about probiotics, nutrition, and diet, I have them see a nutritionist who specializes in IBD as needed, Hudesman says.

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What Are The Precautions Of Probiotics For Ulcerative Colitis

You are probably thinking of buying the best probiotic for ulcerative colitis now, so you can help remedy your digestive issue. However, there are certain precautions that you need to consider before you start buying all the probiotics that you come across because you should keep in mind that probiotics cannot be used in place of medications when it comes to ulcerative colitis.

Also, if your immune system has been compromised or weakened, you might want to consider other alternatives to soothing the inflammation in your digestive tract. There might be some effects on your overall health if you consume too many probiotics.

The best probiotic for ulcerative colitis can help reduce the symptoms and flare-ups, but they cannot stop it altogether. Therefore you still need to follow the medication that your doctor has prescribed to help you with your digestive problem. Think of probiotics as simply a supplement for your treatment.

Diet And Lifestyle Changes

The Best Probiotic For Ulcerative Colitis

Although diet and stress do not cause ulcerative colitis, there may be times when changes in your lifestyle may help control your symptoms and lengthen the time between flare-ups. The following changes may help to ease your symptoms:

  • Limit milk/dairy products. If you are lactose intolerant , milk and dairy products can produce symptoms of excess gas and diarrhea.
  • Restrict intake of certain high-fibre foods: such as nuts, seeds, and raw vegetables.
  • Limit intake of caffeine, alcohol, carbonated drinks and fatty foods. .
  • Eat small, frequent meals, rather than large meals..
  • Exercise regularly to promote movement of the colon and reduce stress..
  • Minimize stress. Yoga, meditation and slow, relaxed breathing techniques can help people with ulcerative colitis manage stress..

Ask your doctor or pharmacist if one of these formulations may be right for you. It is important to take the probiotic in the dose and duration recommended by the manufacturer to achieve the best results.

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Probiotic Minas Frescal Cheese Modulated Gene Expression In The Mice Colon

In this work, we sought to evaluable the colonic mRNA expression levels of epithelial barrier genes , production of mucin gene , colonic oxidative stress , and cytokine gene expression . Our results showed that the consumption of conventional or probiotic cheese in healthy control groups was not able to alter the expression of the genes evaluated . The intake of DSS in drinking water also did not alter the expression of zo-1, zo-2, ocln, cln-1, MUC-2, IL-10, and IL-17 genes, when compared with the naive group. On the other hand, we observed an increase in the expression of iNOS and IL-1 genes, when compared with the DSS group and naive group . Interestingly, we observed that the consumption of probiotic cheese in unhealthy mice induced an increase in the expression of zo-1, zo-2, ocln, and cln-1 genes of epithelial barrier, compared with the DSS and naive groups, while the expression of iNOS and IL-1 genes was decreased in animals treated with probiotic cheese. Also, we observed that MUC-2 gene expression tended to increase in animals treated with probiotic cheese but was not statically different from DSS .

Figure 4. Impact of probiotic cheese on colonic expression markers of cell barrier and oxidative stress. Colonic mRNA expression levels of zo-1, zo-2, ocln, cln-1, MUC-2, and iNOS genes analyzed by qRT-PCR. The data represent the mean ± SD . Asterisks represent statistically significant differences: *p< 0.05, **p< 0.01, ***p< 0.001, ****p< 0.0001.

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Who Is At Risk Of Ulcerative Colitis

  • Age: Ulcerative colitis may affect any age group, although there are peaks at ages 15 to 30 years, and again at ages 50 to 70 years.
  • Race/ethnic background: Ulcerative colitis is more common among caucasians and in people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.
  • Family history: People with a first-degree relative with ulcerative colitis are at greater risk of developing the condition.

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Best Probiotics for Ulcerative Colitis: Which Should I Take?

About 1.6 million people in the U.S. have an incurable inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohns or ulcerative colitis, and 70,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.

IBD patients suffer from pain, extreme discomfort, and numerous other symptoms caused by continuously relapsing and remitting inflammatory lesions in the layer of cells that lines the intestinal lumen . The exact causes for IBD still are poorly understood, but it is clear that a misdirected immune system is at work, and that certain components of the microbial community in our gut, known as the intestinal microbiome, and environmental factors contribute to its destructive forces.

While anti-inflammatory drugs can dampen acute inflammation and antibiotics can fight local infections when IBD episodes flare up, their use also comes at a cost. Anti-inflammatory drugs can have severe side effects, and antibiotics can disrupt the beneficial parts of the microbiome. Importantly, there are no wound treatments available that could be applied to inflamed lesions directly from inside the gut lumen in order to speed up healing and minimize use of those drugs.

These images show histological cross sections of colon from mice used as a disease model for colitis. The colons of injured mice lose the characteristic columnar cell structure of the healthy gut . When treated with PATCH, the mouse colons were able to maintain a healthy morphology even in the presence of inflammatory insults.

Wyss Institute at Harvard University

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Is There Harm In Taking A Probiotic

People who live with IBD might wonder what harm there could be in taking a probiotic. For one thing, it might be expensive. For another, it might not help.

While in some cases, probiotics might not have any adverse side effects, for some people it could lead to bloating, gas, or diarrhea. Sometimes these effects will go away over time and with continued use of the probiotic.

Another potential harm is the cost: in some cases probiotics can be quite expensive. If theyre not giving any benefit, that is a problem, especially for people who already have high medical costs.

Whats less well understood is if a probiotic might be used instead of receiving a treatment for IBD that has been proven to work in clinical trials. The harm would be in taking probiotics that might not have an effect and in forgoing other treatment.

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Do Probiotics Help Ulcerative Colitis And Crohns Disease

Researchers are starting to think that imbalances in our gut microbiome are linked to many diseases, ailments and even our mental health.

There is increasing evidence that suggests intestinal microbiota plays a role in initiating, maintaining and determining the characteristics and development of IBD1, 2. And, some people with IBD do report that taking probiotics can help with easing some of their symptoms.

However, studies into the effectiveness of probiotics on people with IBD are limited. There have been a few studies into specific strains of bacteria and their effect on IBD and even fewer studies specifically testing probiotic products on IBD. Generally, at the moment, the research shows that some specific probiotics may be helpful for people with ulcerative colitis but the evidence in Crohns Disease is less convincing.

Some of these studies include:

Probiotic product specific

and pouchitis. The study concluded that high doses of the probiotic VSL#3 are effective in the treatment of mild pouchitis3.

VSL#3 and ulcerative colitis. The study demonstrated that VSL#3 is effective in achieving clinical responses and remissions in patients with mild-to moderately active UC4.

Some studies have also been carried out into Crohns disease and microscopic colitis.

and ulcerative colitis. The study found that 76% of those with ulcerative colitis taking part in the study had significant reductions in faecal levels of calprotectin5.

Bacteria strain specific

Probiotic Hydrogels Heal Gut Wounds That Other Treatments Cant Reach

Probiotics Supplements are not Recommended for Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease

Could open the door to new bioactive healing strategies

In their new study, the team further built on these findings by introducing the machinery for producing one of the mucoadhesive hydrogels based on TFF3 into an E. coli Nissle strain that is a normal gut bacterium that can thrive in the colon and cecum sections of the intestinal tract affected by IBD, and is currently sold in many commercial probiotic formulations. We found that the newly engineered Nissle bacteria, when given orally, also populated and resided in the intestinal tract, and that their curli fibers integrated with the intestinal mucus layer, said first author Pichet Praveschotinunt, who is a graduate student mentored by Joshi.

When we induced colitis in the colons of mice by orally administering the chemical dextran sodium sulfate, animals that had received the PATCH-generating E. coli Nissle strain by daily rectal administration starting three days prior to chemical treatment had significantly faster healing and lower inflammatory responses, which caused them to lose much less weight and recover faster compared to control animals, said Praveschotinunt. Their colon epithelial mucosa displayed a more normal morphology and lower numbers of infiltrating immune cells.

Additional authors on the study are Wyss Institute researchers Ilia Gelfat, Franziska Bahl, and David B. Chou.

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