School of Nursing, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; Maternity Department, The Sutherland Hospital, Caringbah, NSW 2229, Australia.
School of Nursing, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; School of Nursing and Midwifery, CQUniversity, Noosaville, QLD 4566, Australia.
Women Birth. 2018 Feb;31(1):31-37. doi: 10.1016/j.wombi.2017.06.012. Epub 2017 Jun 28.
To perform a pilot project to determine if this research design was appropriate to explore potential causal relationships between oral probiotic use and vaginal Group B Streptococcal (GBS) colonisation rates in pregnant women.
Thirty-four GBS-positive women at 36 weeks pregnant were recruited. The participants were randomly allocated to the control group, who received standard antenatal care, or to the intervention group, who received standard antenatal care and a daily oral dose of probiotics for three weeks or until they gave birth. A vaginal GBS swab was collected three weeks post consent or during labour.
No significant difference was found in vaginal GBS rates between the control and intervention groups. Only seven of 21 women in the intervention group completed the entire 21days of probiotics. A subgroup analysis, including only those who had completed 14days or more of probiotics (n=16), also showed no significant difference in vaginal GBS when compared to the control. The findings did show significantly more vaginal commensals in the probiotics group (p=0.048).
Five possible reasons for the lack of significant results are: the length of the intervention was too short; the dosage of the probiotics was too low; the wrong strains of probiotics were used; the sample size was inadequate; or oral probiotics are ineffective in impacting vaginal GBS.
The finding of a significant increase of vaginal commensals in women who completed 14days or more of probiotics supports the potential of probiotics to impact vaginal GBS in pregnancy.
开展一项试点项目，以确定这种研究设计是否适合探索孕妇口服益生菌使用与阴道型 B 族链球菌（GBS）定植率之间的潜在因果关系。
招募了 34 名 36 周妊娠的 GBS 阳性孕妇。将参与者随机分配至对照组，接受标准产前护理；或干预组，接受标准产前护理和每日口服益生菌治疗 3 周或直至分娩。在同意后 3 周或分娩时采集阴道 GBS 拭子。
对照组和干预组的阴道 GBS 率无显著差异。干预组仅 21 名女性中的 7 名完成了整个 21 天的益生菌疗程。包括仅完成 14 天或以上益生菌疗程的亚组分析（n=16），与对照组相比，阴道 GBS 也无显著差异。发现益生菌组的阴道共生菌明显更多（p=0.048）。
缺乏显著结果的五个可能原因是：干预时间太短；益生菌剂量太低；使用了错误的益生菌菌株；样本量不足；或口服益生菌对阴道 GBS 无效。
完成 14 天或以上益生菌疗程的女性阴道共生菌明显增加的发现支持益生菌对妊娠阴道 GBS 产生影响的潜力。
