Montreal, Oct. 26 - The fourth Montreal International Symposium on probiotics, "Probiotics and Health: Towards Evidence-Based Health Effects," being held today and tomorrow (October 26 and 27) at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has brought together some fifteen of the world's top researchers in the area of probiotics.
Held under the auspices of Fondation des gouverneurs and the Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods Institute of Université Laval (INAF), the event's primary goal is to inform participants of the latest scientific breakthroughs-particularly in gastroenterology and pediatrics-regarding the various uses and practical applications of probiotics and prebiotics in nutrition, health, and technology.
According to Dr. Denis Roy, the symposium's scientific director and holder of a Canada Research Chair in Lactic Culture Biotechnology for the Dairy and Probiotic Industries, "With consumers increasingly making the link between a healthy diet and their health, we believe they are ready to better grasp and understand the preventive role functional foods containing probiotics and prebiotics can play. By providing the media and consumers with objective, up-to-date information, we hope they will gradually improve their eating habits, for example by consuming more probiotics in various forms."
Probiotics are dietary additives containing live bacteria (lactobacilli and bifidobacteria). In sufficient quantities, they have beneficial physiological effects on digestive health. Prebiotics are sugars that are digested only by the good bacteria found in our large intestines. Therefore, they serve as food for probiotics and increase their presence. Lactobacilli and bifidobacteria are the main probiotic bacteria that have been isolated in the intestinal flora and in conventional fermented foods like fermented milk.
Symposium participants come from the nutrition, medical, health, agrifood, research, and academic sectors.
Can probiotics save lives?
A number of studies have already demonstrated the many benefits of consuming probiotics: They help regulate intestinal function, improve the digestion of lactose (thereby reducing clinical symptoms of lactose intolerance), prevent or reduce diarrhea, improve immune system efficiency, and more. Probiotics can also halt or slow the progression of colorectal cancer.
According to Dr. Jacques Goulet, a professor in the Department of Food Sciences and Nutrition at Université Laval, "Numerous clinical studies have been conducted around the world, particularly over the last 15 years, and by far the most remarkable finding to date is that none of them have identified any unwanted or harmful side effects on people's health! Study results have been positive and show how important it is to consume these good bacteria to stay healthy."
C. difficile: Close to a solution?
Many researchers believe that consuming probiotics and prebiotics regularly can help prevent and cure C. difficile bacterial infections. This is why a number of major studies on the subject are currently underway in several countries.
In Quebec, Dr. Pierre-Jean Maziade, a microbiologist and infectious disease specialist at Centre hospitalier Pierre-Le Gardeur, has been running a sweeping "open label(1)" study since February 2004. The study involves administering during a full month a concentrated formula(2) of the beneficial bacteria L. acidophilus and L. casei to all patients on antibiotics hospitalized at this healthcare facility in the Lanaudière region. Nearly 6,000 patients have received the pills to date. So far, the number of C. difficile bacterial infections has dropped 75% as has the number of serious infections. Study results should be published soon.
According to Dr. Maziade, "In the battle against hospital acquired C. difficile, the measures recommended by the Quebec ministry and committee of experts in nosocomial infections must be maintained, but I do believe that Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus casei based products can provide an important contribution in the battle against this infection."
Dr. Maziade decided to conduct this study in the wake of a double-blind placebo-controlled study of 89 patients-most of whom had upper respiratory infections-from fall 2003 to May 2004 at Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont in Montreal. All participants were treated with antibiotics and randomly divided into two groups: The first group received a concentrated formula as a preventive measure(3) while the second group received a placebo. The study proved that the two probiotic strains were effective in fighting Clostridium difficile. Not only was C. difficile markedly less present in patients treated with the concentrated probiotic formula (the incidence dropped 86%), these patients were also discharged from hospital two days earlier than other study participants.