Chris Lackner, "Good bacteria after bad", Globe and Mail, August 27,
2004,
Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040827.wxhbacteria27/BNStory/specialScienceandH
Most people don't go to the drug store to pick up a bottle of
bacteria. But two Canadian researchers and a Danish manufacturer are
hoping to change that.For more than 22 years, microbiologist Gregor
Reid and urologist Andrew Bruce have sung the praises of
Lactobacillus, bacteria they say can help keep women free of bladder
and vaginal infections. Together, they have isolated and patented two
strains of the beneficial bacteria that essentially fight the ''bad''
microbes that cause the infections.
Approximately one million Canadian women suffer from bladder and
vaginal infections annually. Symptoms include the recurring urge to
urinate and soreness in lower abdomen, back or sides; typically,
urination is difficult, painful and tinged with blood.
While a faculty member at Queen's University in 1973, Dr. Bruce began
to examine what distinguished healthy woman from those with
reoccurring bladder infections. He determined that healthier women had
higher levels of Lactobacillus, naturally occurring bacteria that
travel from the rectum to the vagina along the outer skin. Once Dr.
Reid joined the project in 1982, the duo devoted themselves to
isolating and testing strains of the bacteria.
"Women are exposed to many bugs on a daily basis -- some are
beneficial and some are harmful," Dr. Reid said from his office at the
Lawson Health Research Institute, an affiliate of the University of
Western Ontario.
"Woman who get fewer infections or none at all have [more]
Lactobacillus. . . . What we are essentially doing is topping off the
good bugs," Dr. Reid said.
Two beneficial strains of Lactobacillus -- GR-1 and RC-14 -- were the
focus of the researchers' clinical trials. Participants either
inserted the bacteria vaginally or took it in oral form. The oral
product consists of sealed capsules containing dry, powdered
Lactobacillus. After ingestion, the bacteria travel from the bowel to
the rectum and finally to the vagina. While in the vagina,
Lactobacillus inhibits the formation of yeast and prevents harmful
bacteria from multiplying and entering the bladder.
Today their natural remedy is being put into capsules and sold to
women in Malaysia and Hong Kong. Each capsule contains more than five
billion Lactobacillus bacteria and needs to be taken daily to fend off
infections. The probiotic, called Urex-Cap-5, costs $18 (U.S.) for a
package of 30 capsules and is produced by a Denmark-based
pharmaceutical firm, Chr. Hansen.
The remedy could be available to North American consumers within a
year, pending approval by Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, Dr. Reid said. With 15 clinical trials behind it, the
researchers believe their remedy will be given a quick green light as
a dietary health supplement.
The researchers' most recent studies found that daily oral use of the
probiotic restores Lactobacilli in the vagina and reduces yeast, E.
coli and other harmful organisms by more than 50 per cent.
Dr. Reid said no side effects have been documented because
Lactobacillus is a natural bacterium that helps maintain a balanced
vaginal flora. "When you come in with antibiotics [to treat an
infection], it's a serious challenge to the human physique -- it's a
chemical substance foreign to the human body," he said. "Our [remedy]
doesn't cure infection, but the question is, can you have one
infection a year as opposed to six?"
While skeptical at first, May, a 44-year-old from London, Ont., who
asked that her last name not be used, took part in the researchers'
clinical trial in 2000 that tested Lactobacillus's effect on women who
were also taking antibiotics for bladder and urinary tract infections.
The woman, who suffered from chronic urinary tract infections, said
antibiotics usually cured her bladder condition but caused painful
yeast infections.
She said the oral Lactobacillus began to ease her pain during the
first three days of her 10-day trial and prevented any side effects
from her antibiotics. "The idea of swallowing bacteria kind of makes
you wonder, but I felt better than I had in a long time," she said.
Dr. Reid said beneficial bacteria in women can be depleted through
antibiotics, menstruation, the use of spermicides and exposure to
multiple sexual partners.
Antibiotics offer a proven cure to vaginal and bladder infections, but
do not reduce infection rates. Dr. Reid believes the health industry
needs to focus on prevention as well as treatment. He estimates that
probiotic products could eventually save Canada's health-care system
more than $100-million a year.
For two decades, the researchers have faced resistance from both the
scientific community and pharmaceutical industry. But they say growing
public interest in natural remedies and probiotics has changed their
fortunes.
The two men formed a company, Urex Biotech Inc., in 1988 to control
their intellectual property, and currently hold 35 patents on their
natural remedy. They licensed their product to Chr. Hansen this year.
But medically unproven products claiming to be probiotics often give
their genuine brethren a bad name, Dr. Reid said, adding: "A probiotic
has to be proven to confer a health benefit in a clinical study."
A professor emeritus of urology from the University of Toronto, Dr.
Bruce is currently a consultant to the Lawson Institute. A $500,000
grant to Dr. Reid from the federal Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council has helped fund their work for the past two years,
although early on the two had to tap their own resources because
government agencies were "skeptical."
"This has been my baby for a long time," Dr. Bruce said. "It was my
conception, but it's been hard to get it to birth."