Clinical course of infant colic during treatment with mono- and multiprobiotics

Abstract

Introduction. Probiotics have been shown to be effective in the treatment of infant colic for Lactobacillus reuteri. In recent years, multi-strain probiotics have been used for the same purpose.Aim. To evaluate the clinical course of infant colic during treatment with mono- and multiprobiotics and in follow-up.Мaterial and methods. 110 children aged from 1 to 5 months (average age 3.2 ± 0.3 months) suffering from colic were examined. Patients were randomized into three groups: group 1 (n = 30), received the BioGaia Probiotic drops for baby, group 2 (n = 40) – Bac- Set Bab multiprobiotic, group 3 (n = 40) – symptomatic therapy.Results. The average duration of crying of children who received multiprobiotic (group 2) was significantly less than that of children of the first and third groups (group 1 – 1.62 ± 0.5 hours; group 2 – 1.1 ± 0.3 hours; group 3 – 2.5 ± 0.6 hours; p < 0.001). The duration of crying during colic was in correlation with the level of zonulin in the stool (r = 0.58, p < 0.05).Treatment with the multiprobiotic was accompanied by a decrease in the frequency of bowel movements from 4.15 times a day to 3.27 times and was not accompanied by an increase in constipation, while monostrain probiotic and symptomatic therapy did not change the frequency of daily bowel movements and did not affect pre-existing constipation.Conclusions. The multiprobiotic turned out to be more effective than the single-strain monostrain probiotic and symptomatic therapy in the speed of relieving infant colic; it completely stops them in 87.5% of children and reduces them in 12.5%. The effect of multiprobiotic is persistent, relapse was noted in only 13.3% of children, whereas after taking monostrain probiotic the relapse rate was 33.33%. The effect of multiprobiotic is associated with its ability to normalize intestinal microbiota and reduce the permeability of the intestinal wall.