Probiotics May Help with Breast Inflammation
Mastitis means inflammation of the breast. It is most often caused by bacteria invading cracks and fissures of the breast. It is common among lactating mothers and can end breast-feeding prematurely. Because drug-resistant staphylococci (MRSA) often are implicated in this infection, researchers in Spain evaluated probiotics as an alternative treatment to antibiotics.
The use of probiotics for treating patients with gastrointestinal infections has some inherent logic, but their use for infections elsewhere in the body is a little more difficult to rationalize. These authors cite a “stimulation of the host intramammary immune system” and promise further studies to clarify mechanism. Meanwhile, these intriguing results should be replicated before this approach to a common infection is adopted widely.
This was a double-blind randomized prospective study, 251 postpartum women with mastitis received one of two oral probiotic preparations consisting of freeze-dried strains of lactobacilli isolated from human breast milk; 101 women in the control group received various antibiotics. At day 21, mean bacterial counts in breast milk were significantly lower among women in the two probiotics groups, who also reported greater resolution of breast pain. Mastitis recurrence rates were higher among antibiotic recipients, as were rates of breast-feeding discontinuation.
In the antibiotic group, the 19 women who received trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (brand names of Septra and Bactrim) had better clinical and microbiological responses than did those given nonstaphylococci antibiotics such as erythromycin or amoxicillin, but, even in this subgroup, the results were similar to those achieved with probiotics.
Resources:
Arroyo R et al. Treatment of infectious mastitis during lactation: Antibiotics versus oral administration of lactobacilli isolated from breast milk. Clin Infect Dis 2010 Jun 15; 50:1551. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/652763)
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