A clinical trial recently conducted at the Pediatric Imam Hossein Hospital demonstrated that synbiotics (a mixture of prebiotics and probiotics) can significantly improve symptoms for pediatric eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) patients.

EoE is a rare inflammation of the esophagus. It can lead to poor appetite, nausea, vomiting chest pain, heartburn, abdominal pain, dysphagia and more. Probiotics are often used as a treatment for similar conditions which involve allergies. Since most EoE patients react to many common food allergens, probiotics may also lead to positive effects in this patient population.

Since probiotics are noninvasive, nonpathogenic, noncarcinogenic, and safe, they could be a great treatment option if found to be effective.

This particularly study aimed to demonstrate the clinical benefit of using a mix of prebiotics and probiotics.

The Study

This study was a randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled investigation. It included 30 EoE patients between 6 months and 15 years of age. All patients underwent an esophagogastroduodenoscopy to confirm their diagnosis prior to the initiation of the study.

Patients were divided into two groups randomly. Both received a topical steroid, elimination diet, and treatment with a proton pump inhibitor. One group also received a symbiotic called KidiLact each day whereas the other group were given a placebo therapy. KidiLact contains 10 different bacterial strains.

All patients were checked on every 2 weeks for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks, the severity and frequency of symptoms were compared between the two groups.

Results

This study found that the patients treated with the probiotics had a significant reduction in severity scores for nausea, chest pain, and even poor appetite. Symptom severity among both groups was reduced for poor appetite and nausea, but the results were more significant for the treatment group. Treatment group patients also experienced improvements in dysphagia.

Overall, this study demonstrates that probiotics may be a helpful addition to the standard therapeutic regimen for EoE patients, as they may reduce the severity of symptoms.

You can read more about this study and its findings here.