Abstract
ABSTRACT Giardiasis, an intestinal infection caused by Giardia lamblia, was recently included in the ‘Neglected Diseases Initiative’ by the World Health Organization. Symptomatic patients can develop mild diarrhea up to a severe malabsorption syndrome, and children may show significantly impaired cognitive and physical development. Currently, nitroimidazoles are the main class of antibiotic used to treat giardiasis. Despite the efficacy of these drugs, adverse effects and reported resistance have increased, encouraging studies to identify and develop therapeutic alternatives. In this context, probiotics may represent an attractive option. Probiotics are defined as live microorganisms that, when administered in suitable amounts, confer a health benefit to the host. The use of probiotics in the treatment of parasitosis has been suggested because of its beneficial effects, such as a reduced time of gastrointestinal symptoms and parasite load in animal models and humans. Probiotics have been studied as an alternative treatment for giardiasis. In this review, we evaluated probiotic effectiveness in the treatment and prevention of this disease. Based on the studies examined herein, we conclude that probiotics have a beneficial effect on the modulation of giardiasis.
Highlights
Giardiasis, an intestinal infection caused by the protozoan Giardia lamblia, is considered the most common human intestinal parasitosis in the world
None of the combinations of bacteria were able to stimulate the protozoan pathogenicity in germ-free mice in the same level as the microbiota of conventional mice did. These findings can be explained by smaller Peyer’s patches, fewer plasma cells, fewer intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs), impaired antimicrobial peptide and immunoglobulin A (IgA) secretion, and reduced CD4+ and CD8+ T cell numbers found in germ-free mice compared to those in conventional mice (Chung et al, 2012)
Studies involving the action of probiotics as an alternative therapy on enteric parasites, such as G. lamblia, have been conducted due to their worldwide epidemiological importance as well as because of the damage caused upon the host
Summary
Giardiasis, an intestinal infection caused by the protozoan Giardia lamblia (synonyms - G. intestinalis and G. duodenalis), is considered the most common human intestinal parasitosis in the world. It is frequent in both developed and developing countries, and is estimated to inflict 280 million symptomatic human infections annually. Nutritional interventions and modifications of the intestinal microenvironment through probiotic administration may be an important therapeutic alternative (Iannitti, Palmieri, 2010). In this context, the aim of this revision is to demonstrate the role of probiotics in treating and preventing clinical and experimental giardiasis. Clinical and experimental articles that used probiotics as therapeutic agents and were written in the English language have been included
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