Clinical Efficacy of Probiotic Therapy on Bowel-Related Symptoms in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis during Endoscopic Remission: An Observational Study

Abstract

Background. A substantial percentage of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) have irritable bowel syndrome- (IBS-) like symptoms despite adequate treatment and endoscopic remission. In this study, we evaluated the clinical efficacy of probiotic therapy for residual IBS-like symptoms in patients with UC in endoscopic remission. Methods. We conducted a multicenter, observational study between April 2018 and December 2020 across two university hospitals in Korea. Patients with UC whose IBS-like symptoms persisted during endoscopic remission were included in this study. Endoscopic remission was defined as a Mayo endoscopic <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"> <a:mtext>score</a:mtext> <a:mo>≤</a:mo> <a:mn>1</a:mn> </a:math> , and IBS-like symptoms were defined as those meeting the ROME-IV diagnostic criteria. A Biotop capsule® (Lactobacillus acidophilus, 75 mg; Clostridium butyricum TO-A, 25 mg; Bacillus mesentericus TO-A, 25 mg; and Streptococcus faecalis T-110, 5 mg) was administered three times daily for one month. All patients completed bowel-related symptom questionnaires and short inflammatory bowel disease questionnaires (SIBDQs) at the start and end of the 4-week treatment period. Results. A total of 43 patients were enrolled and analyzed. Statistically significant improvements from baseline were observed at the end of the 4-week treatment. The total SIBDQ score improved from 50.6 to 53.6 ( <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2"> <c:mi>P</c:mi> <c:mo>=</c:mo> <c:mn>0.005</c:mn> </c:math> ). SIBDQ scores of bowel function ( <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M3"> <e:mi>P</e:mi> <e:mo>=</e:mo> <e:mn>0.018</e:mn> </e:math> ), systemic function ( <g:math xmlns:g="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M4"> <g:mi>P</g:mi> <g:mo>=</g:mo> <g:mn>0.040</g:mn> </g:math> ), and social function ( <i:math xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M5"> <i:mi>P</i:mi> <i:mo>=</i:mo> <i:mn>0.005</i:mn> </i:math> ) improved. Stool frequency and Bristol stool scale scores improved after probiotic therapy ( <k:math xmlns:k="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M6"> <k:mi>P</k:mi> <k:mo>&lt;</k:mo> <k:mn>0.05</k:mn> </k:math> ). Conclusion. This study showed that probiotic administration improved bowel-related symptoms and quality of life in patients with UC whose IBS-like symptoms persisted during endoscopic remission. As this is an observational study and has no placebo-controlled arm, further prospective randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm these results.

Topics & Concepts