[Preventive Effect of Clostridium Butyricum M588 Against the Proliferation of Clostridium Difficile During Antimicrobial Therapy]

Fecal flora of the patients without remarkable gastrointestinal diseases were studied. All patients were treated with antimicrobial drugs with or without Miya-BM (the preparation of Clostridium butyricum M588). The stools were examined before and after (during) antimicrobial treatment. Fecal flora of 69 patients before medication was almost the same with that of healthy adults as has been reported by Mitsuoka et al. After giving antimicrobials, most bacterial genus except Enterococcus and Yeasts in the stool decreased their detection rate and their population. This floral change was not much influenced by co-administration of Miya-BM. The detection rate of Clostridium difficile and/or the toxin A from the stool were markedly increased after giving antimicrobials. When Miya-BM was co-administered with antimicrobials, however, the detection of C. difficile and/or toxin A was very rare. C. butyricum M588 was recovered from 7 cases out of 10 patients treated with antimicrobials and Miya-BM. Non-spore form of C. butyricum was dominant in the feces of 3 cases, and spore form was dominant in the other 4. This result showed that administered C. butyricum M588 germinated in intestinal tract.