Randomized Controlled Trial
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World J Gastroenterol. Nov 14, 2014; 20(42): 15837-15844
Published online Nov 14, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i42.15837
Commercially available probiotic drinks containing Lactobacillus casei DN-114001 reduce antibiotic-associated diarrhea
Christoph G Dietrich, Tanja Kottmann, Manuela Alavi
Christoph G Dietrich, Manuela Alavi, Department of Medicine, Bethlehem Hospital, Teaching Hospital of Aachen University RWTH, 52222 Stolberg, Rhineland, Germany
Tanja Kottmann, Private Institute of Medical Statistics, 52222 Hamm, Westfalen, Germany
Author contributions: Dietrich CG supervised the data acquisition and prepared the manuscript. Kottmann T conducted all of the statistical analyses; Alavi M designed the study and obtained the majority of the data; all of the authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Christoph G Dietrich, MD, PhD, Department of Medicine, Teaching Hospital of Aachen University RWTH, Bethlehem-Gesundheitszentrum, Steinfeldstraße 5, 52222 Stolberg, Rheinland, Germany. dietrich@bethlehem.de
Telephone: +49-2402-1074223 Fax: +49-2402-1074431
Received: March 11, 2014
Revised: May 26, 2014
Accepted: June 26, 2014
Published online: November 14, 2014
Processing time: 251 Days and 13.6 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: The presented study used a large primary hospital cohort to test the effect of a commercially available probiotic drink in the prevention of antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) in a decision-based manner. This is the first manufacturer-independent study showing a clear advantage of a probiotic drink containing Lactobacillus casei DN 114001 in AAD prevention. The study additionally contains a calculation of cost-effectiveness and identifies risk factors for AAD. In a second small pilot study, we compared for the first time two commercially available drinks in a head-to-head analysis.