04/02/2008 - Probiotic supplements may ease the suffering from diarrhoea and nausea amongst people with HIV and AIDS, suggests a joint study by African and Canadian researchers.
The occurrence of diarrhoea was stopped by taking the gut-friendly bacteria among 24 people with HIV/AIDS in the sub-Saharan region of Africa, a population where many suffer from debilitating effects of diarrhoea, and only a few have access to antiretroviral therapy, reports the new study.
"This is the first study to show the benefits of probiotic yogurt on quality of life of women in Nigeria with HIV/AIDS, and suggests that perhaps a simple fermented food can provide some relief in the management of the AIDS epidemic in Africa," wrote lead author Kingsley Anukam in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology.
The researchers, from the University of Benin, Benson Idahosa University, and the Canadian Research and Development Centre for Probiotics at the University of Western Ontario, recruited 24 women with HIV/AIDS aged between 18 and 44 and with clinical signs of moderate diarrhoea, and assigned them to receive a normal or probiotic yoghurt (100 mL) for 15 days.
"Given the track record of probiotics to alleviate diarrhoea, conventional yogurt fermented with Lactobacillus delbruekii var bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus was supplemented with probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and L. reuteri RC-14," explained the researchers.
The women were not receiving antiretroviral therapy or dietary supplements, and the average CD4 T-lymphocyte count (the immune system cells that the virus attacks) was over 200.
At the end of intervention period, Anukam and co-workers report that the occurrence of diarrhoea, flatulence, and nausea was resolved in all 12 subjects receiving the probiotic yoghurt, compared to only two out of the 12 in the normal (control) yoghurt.
Moreover, the average CD4 count remained the same in 92 per cent (11 out of 12 people) of the subjects in the probiotic group, while the level only remained the same in 25 per cent (three out of 12 people) receiving the control yoghurt.
White blood cells counts of the probiotic-supplemented group were 5.8 billion cells per litre at the start, and 6.0 billion cells per litre after 15 days. The level decreased slightly to 5.4 billion cells per litre 15 days after the supplementation period stopped.
The study, although small and short, suggests probiotics could play a role in improving the quality of life of people with HIV/AIDS, particularly in areas where diarrhoea is a debilitating condition.
Another reason why probiotics may be significant for HIV/AIDS patients ...
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HIV Persists In The Gut Despite Long-term HIV Therapy, Study Shows
ScienceDaily (Feb. 14, 2008) — Even with effective anti-HIV therapies, doctors still have not been able to eradicate the virus from infected individuals who are receiving such treatments, largely because of the persistence of HIV in hideouts known as viral reservoirs. One important reservoir is the gut, where HIV causes much of its damage due to the large number of HIV target cells that reside there. These cells, known as CD4+ T cells, are largely contained in lymph nodes and patches of lymphocytes that collectively are called gut-associated lymphoid tissue, or GALT.
Because of the importance of the gut to HIV disease, scientists hoped that long-term treatment with antiretroviral drugs could eradicate HIV from the GALT. A new NIAID study1 has found that this goal seems unlikely with current antiretroviral drugs.
Tae-Wook Chun, Ph.D., of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation (LIR), Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., LIR chief and NIAID director, and their colleagues intensively studied eight patients receiving effective antiretroviral therapy for up to 9.9 years. In each of these of these individuals, therapy had consistently kept their blood levels of HIV at undetectable levels.
Sensitive tests, however, detected the persistence of HIV as well as lowered CD4+ T cell levels in the GALT that did not completely rebound in response to therapy. Levels of virus were higher in the GALT than in immune cells in the blood, where HIV also was consistently found.
In addition, the scientists found evidence of cross infection between the GALT and the lymphocytes in the blood, suggesting that one reason the virus persists in the blood is because of ongoing cycles of replication in the GALT. The authors conclude that any possibility of further lowering or eliminating viral reservoirs likely will require more powerful drug regimens to stop the low levels of ongoing viral replication originating in the GALT. The development of such regimens is an important goal of NIAID-supported research.
Probiotic Yogurt May Help HIV/AIDS Patients
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