Ganeden BC30 strain shows potential against C. diff: Mouse study
Researchers from Penn State College of Medicine and Ganeden Biotech report that Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086 (GanedenBC30) was associated with a
“C. diff infections are very common in hospitals and nursing homes where individuals have compromised immune systems,” said Dr David Keller, VP of Scientific Operations at Ganeden Biotech and one of the study’s authors.
“C. diff treatment is a double-edge sword: you get it while on antibiotics but it’s then treated with antibiotics. And once you have had it, you are much more susceptible to getting it again.”
The C. diff burden
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), C. diff causes an inflammation of the colon (colitis), with the most common symptoms of infection being diarrhea and fever.
Over 250,000 Clostridium difficile infections are reported in the US every year, which is more than the ‘flu (200,000). Between 15,000 and 30,000 deaths are believed to be due to C. diff every year.
Current treatments, ranging from changing the antibiotics used to dietary changes, reported to have limited effectiveness and people are subject to relapse.
Several studies have reported that probiotics have potential to fight C. diff. The new study adds to a previous study by the same researchers, published in the journal Gut Microbes (2011, 3:16, doi:10.1186/1757-4749-3-16).
Mike Bush, Ganeden’s VP of business development, told NutraIngredients-USA that the company is currently looking at options for running a human study, “but it looks like it would be 2014”.
“As far as claims go - we don't really plan on specifically making claims but will simply use this data to support out growing body of supporting science related to our patented strain - GanedenBC30,” he added.
Study details
The Penn State and Ganeden scientists investigated if BC30 could reduce the risk of recurrence of C. diff. in lab mice, following initial treatment with vancomycin. The animals were treated with antibiotics for 5 days, and then, on the 6th day, they were infected with C. diff. and then given vancomycin for five days. At day 10, the animals were randomly assigned to receive either BC30 or saline for a further week.
“BC30 limited the recurrence of C diff.-induced colitis following vancomycin withdrawal in mice,” they wrote.
“Specifically, this probiotic significantly improved stool consistency of mice in this recurrence model of C. difficile associated disease. BC30 also significantly attenuated histological and biochemical indices of infectious colitis.”
The study was funded by Ganeden Biotech Inc.
Source: Gut Pathogens
2012, 4:13 doi:10.1186/1757-4749-4-13
“Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086 limits the recurrence of Clostridium difficile-Induced colitis following vancomycin withdrawal in mice”
Authors: L.R. Fitzpatrick, J.S. Small, W.H. Greene, K.D. Karpa, S. Farmer, D. Keller
