Pp. Figueiredo et al., Influence of oral inoculation with plasmid-free human Escherichia coli on the frequency of diarrhea during the first year of life in human newborns, J PED GASTR, 33(1), 2001, pp. 70-74
Citations number
26
Categorie Soggetti
Pediatrics,"Medical Research General Topics
Journal title
JOURNAL OF PEDIATRIC GASTROENTEROLOGY AND NUTRITION
Background: This study was carried out to determine whether early inoculati
on of the plasmid-free human Escherichia coli into human newborns would red
uce the frequency of acute diarrhea during a 1-year period. The plasmid-fre
e E. coli strain isolated from the fecal microbiota of a healthy adult was
nontoxigenic in vivo and in vitro and sensitive to all usual antibiotics.
Methods: In the experimental group, 51 healthy newborns were inoculated ora
lly with 10(6) viable cells of the bacteria within 2 hours after birth. In
the control group, the same number of newborns received the heat-killed bac
teria. The clinical trial was double blind, and the newborns were randomly
assigned to the experimental and control groups.
Results: Six months and I year after bacterial inoculation, infants in the
experimental group showed a higher mean body weight (7.59 +/- 1.15 kg and 9
.88 +/- 1.31 kg, respectively; P < 0.05) when compared with the control gro
up (7.03 +/- 1.09 kg and 8.92 +/- 1.38 kg, respectively). At the end of the
clinical trial, 48% (23/48) of the infants in the experimental group had s
hown at least one diarrhea episode during the I-year period, as opposed to
71% (34/48) in the control group. These values were significantly different
(P = 0.037), showing a 32.3% protective effect of inoculation.
Conclusions: The present study shows that protection against diarrhea was o
btained by oral inoculation with a single dose of plasmid-free human E. col
i soon after birth.