The medical management of ulcerative colitis in children often requires aggressive pharmacological therapy or colonic resection. We hypothesized that synbiotic therapy, consisting of <i>B. longum</i> R0175 and inulin would improve symptoms and quality of life (QOL) in children diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. Consenting pediatric subjects (8-18 years; n = 9) with ulcerative colitis in remission were provided synbiotic therapy, (Probiotic: <i>Bifidobacterium longum</i> R0175 2.0 x 1010 cfu/day; Prebiotic: 15 g/day of inulin) (n = 4) or placebo (maltodextrin + ascorbic acid capsule; 15 g/day of non-resistant maltodextrin) (n = 5) for ten months in a pilot study (Phase I). After ten months, the study was unblinded and synbiotic therapy was administered to eight pediatric subjects (Phase II). In attempt to increase sample size, three adult subjects with active UC were recruited and provided the synbiotic therapy (Phase III). In all phases of the research, QOL was measured using the Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (SIBDQ). The SIBDQ was administered at baseline and every two months. Subjects kept a daily records of symptoms (stool consistency and frequency, presence of blood and mucous, presence of abdominal pain and overall feeling). Phase I QOL scores were significantly better for those receiving the synbiotic therapy versus the placebo (p = 0.014). Severe symptoms occurred in 60% of the control subjects, where as subjects receiving synbiotic therapy did not experience severe symptoms (p = 0.032). Phase II QOL scores were significantly better post-treatment with synbiotic therapy (p=0.034). One subject (steroid dependant) was able to wean off Prednisone® while receiving the synbiotic therapy; she remained in remission and was symptom free for over 26 months. In Phase III, synbiotic therapy did not induce remission in the adult subjects with active UC. No adverse effects were reported.<p>Synbiotic therapy consisting of <i>Bifidobacterium longum</i> R0175 and inulin, when provided in addition to conventional treatment, appears to be a safe and effective strategy for managing pediatric ulcerative colitis in remission.Further clinical trials are warranted to confirm these preliminary results.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:USASK/oai:usask.ca:etd-03202007-180728 |
| Date | 21 March 2007 |
| Creators | Haskey, Natasha |
| Contributors | Zello, Gordon A., Whiting, Susan J., Hamilton, Donald L., Dahl, Wendy |
| Publisher | University of Saskatchewan |
| Source Sets | University of Saskatchewan Library |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-03202007-180728/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Saskatchewan or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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