Abstract
Probiotics have been shown to have preventive and therapeutic effects on diarrhea. Because effects tend to be strain specific, benefit of a strain or mixture has to be substantiated by experimental evidence. The aim of this study was to investigate the antidiarrheal and antinociceptive effects of a probiotic mixture (Lactibiane Imedia®, PiLeJe). Castor oil-induced diarrhea test was performed in Wistar rats following oral administration of probiotics (20 × 109, 30 × 109 or 40 × 109 CFU/kg), loperamide (5 mg/kg) or vehicle (water; 10 mL/kg). Time to initial evacuation, number of feces and diarrheal feces, fresh weight and water content of the feces and body weight loss were monitored. Behavioral parameters (eye closing, abnormal posture, activity, fur aspect) were used as pain indices. Probable mechanisms of action were evaluated by using the castor oil-induced enteropooling and charcoal meal transit tests. Probiotics significantly and dose-dependently delayed onset time to first feces and had a beneficial effect on all other parameters (p 90%) at the two highest doses tested (30 × 109 or 40 × 109 CFU/kg) without completely blocking defecation (65.7% at 30 × 109 CFU/kg). Behavioral parameters were improved with probiotics compared to vehicle, improvement that was not observed with loperamide. Probiotics significantly and dose-dependently decreased the volume of intestinal fluid (p<0.05 versus vehicle) in the enteropooling test and transit time of charcoal meal. These results indicate that the probiotic mixture tested is strongly antidiarrheic through the combination of antimotility and antisecretory properties. Observations are also in favor of an antinociceptive effect. Agents that can decrease both intestinal hypersecretion and motility are very useful in the management of diarrhea therefore, our probiotic mixture could be an effective alternative to standard drugs.
Highlights
Diarrhea is diagnosed in millions of people per year in both developed and developing countries and is the second leading cause of death in children under five years of age [1]
We investigated the possible mechanisms of action by evaluating the effect of the probiotic mixture on intestinal fluid accumulation and motility in the castor oil-induced enteropooling model and the charcoal meal transit test in rats
Body weight loss and number of diarrheal feces observed with the highest dose of probiotics (40 × 109 Colony-forming unit (CFU)/kg) were not statistically different from the observations made with loperamide; the effect of the 20 × 109 and 30 × 109 CFU/ kg doses of probiotics on these two parameters was significantly lower than that of loperamide (p≤0.001 for 20 × 109 CFU/kg and p
Summary
Diarrhea is diagnosed in millions of people per year in both developed and developing countries and is the second leading cause of death in children under five years of age [1]. This common and impactful symptom is characterized by an alteration in bowel movement and an imbalance between secretory and absorptive activities in the intestine, which results in an increase in the frequency, fluidity and/or volume of stools, and may be accompanied with tenesmus, fever and abdominal pain [1,2]. The search for safe and effective agents is still ongoing
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