Journal des probiotiques et de la santé
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Antidiarrheal and Antinociceptive Effects of a Probiotic Mixture in Rats

Sophie Holowacz*, Claude Blondeau, Isabelle Guinobert, Angèle Guilbot, Sophie Hidalgo-Lucas and Jean-François Bisson

Probiotics have been shown to have preventive and therapeutic effects on diarrhea. Because effects tend to be strain specific, benefit of a strain or mixture has to be substantiated by experimental evidence. The aim of this study was to investigate the antidiarrheal and antinociceptive effects of a probiotic mixture (Lactibiane Imedia®, PiLeJe). Castor oil-induced diarrhea test was performed in Wistar rats following oral administration of probiotics (20 × 109, 30 × 109 or 40 × 109 CFU/kg), loperamide (5 mg/kg) or vehicle (water; 10 mL/kg). Time to initial evacuation, number of feces and diarrheal feces, fresh weight and water content of the feces and body weight loss were monitored. Behavioral parameters (eye closing, abnormal posture, activity, fur aspect) were used as pain indices. Probable mechanisms of action were evaluated by using the castor oil-induced enteropooling and charcoal meal transit tests. Probiotics significantly and dose-dependently delayed onset time to first feces and had a beneficial effect on all other parameters (p<0.05 versus vehicle). This effect was lower than loperamide on most of parameters evaluated. Loperamide totally stopped diarrhea (100%) but also blocked defecation (by 98.5%) whereas probiotics strongly inhibited diarrhea (>90%) at the two highest doses tested (30 × 109 or 40 × 109 CFU/kg) without completely blocking defecation (65.7% at 30 × 109 CFU/kg). Behavioral parameters were improved with probiotics compared to vehicle, improvement that was not observed with loperamide. Probiotics significantly and dose-dependently decreased the volume of intestinal fluid (p<0.05 versus vehicle) in the enteropooling test and transit time of charcoal meal. These results indicate that the probiotic mixture tested is strongly antidiarrheic through the combination of antimotility and antisecretory properties. Observations are also in favor of an antinociceptive effect. Agents that can decrease both intestinal hypersecretion and motility are very useful in the management of diarrhea therefore, our probiotic mixture could be an effective alternative to standard drugs.