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VSL#3 probiotic mix safe, effective for patients with mild to moderate UC
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Patients with mild to moderately active ulcerative colitis assigned the probiotic preparation VSL#3 combined with conventional therapy achieved greater response and remission rates than patients who received conventional therapy alone, according to recent findings.
In the meta-analysis, researchers reviewed PubMed, Scopus and ScienceDirect databases and identified three studies with a low risk for bias that included 319 patients. The researchers utilized the Mantel-Haenszel method to pool the effect across studies, and calculated odds ratios of various outcomes.
The researchers found that the pooled remission rate for ulcerative colitis (UC) was 49.4% (95%CI, 42.7-56.1). One hundred sixty-two patients were assigned a regimen of 3.6 x 1012 colony-forming units (CFU) VSL#3 daily, and 157 patients were assigned placebo. Concomitant therapies with 5-ASA and/or immunomodulators were assigned to 95% of the patients. Response and remission were determined using the Ulcerative Colitis Disease Activity Index (UCDAI). More than a 50% reduction in UCDAI was observed in 44.6% of patients assigned VSL#3 compared with 25.1% of placebo patients (OR=2.793; 95% CI, 1.375-5.676). VSL#3-treated patients had a 43.8% rate of remission vs. 24.8% in placebo patients (OR=2.4; 95% CI, 1.48-3.88). There were no serious side effects, and the addition of VSL#3 was found to be safe.
“VSL#3, when added to conventional therapy at a day dose of 3.6 x 1012 CFU daily, is safe and more effective than conventional therapy alone in achieving higher response and remission rates in mild to moderately active UC,” the researchers wrote.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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