A cautionary tale for probiotic use in hematopoietic SCT patients-Lactobacillus acidophilus sepsis in a patient with mantle cell lymphoma undergoing hematopoietic SCT

摘要

Probiotics include food or drugs containing viable microorganisms that on ingestion confer beneficial physiologic effects on the host. Commonly used genera of probiotic strains include lactobacillus, lactococcus, bifidobacterium and saccharomyces (yeast). Probiotics are commonly consumed as a part of fermented foods with added active live cultures such as yogurt or soy yogurt or as dietary supplements. They confer beneficial effects by means of restoration of intestinal permeability, balancing of the gut microbiota, prevention of bacterial translocation and possibly immunomodulation, thereby ensuring a healthy intestinal environment. A randomized control study in children has shown that the consumption of probiotic microbial strains reduces the incidence of acute infectious, nosocomial and antibiotic-associated diarrhea in various general pediatric settings.1 However, in some patients with immunocompromised states there have been rare instances where consumption of probiotics has resulted in sepsis.