Quantitative analysis of the effect of xylitol on pneumococcal nasal colonisation in rats

Xylitol possesses anti-bacterial effects on pneumococci in vitro. To study the effect in vivo, the nostrils of 80 rats were inoculated with pneumococc i. Intervention groups (n=20) received either a xylitol diet or xylitol nas al sprays. The control groups were on a normal diet or had saline sprays. A fter 3 days, a quantitative bacterial culture and a PCR were done from the mucosal suspension. Neither the mean colony-forming unit counts nor the PCR counts differed statistically significant between the xylitol and control groups. Thus, we found that xylitol had no significant effect on pneumococc al mucosal colonisation. (C) 1999 Federation of European Microbiological So cieties. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.