Effects of Lactobacillus pentosus for the treatment of childhood atopic dermatitis: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is one of the most common chronic relapsing pruritic skin diseases in children. Aberrant interactions between gut microbiome and the intestinal immune system have been implicated in AD. We performed this study to examine of clinical and immunological effects of Lactobacillus pentosus (L. pentosus) for the treatment of AD through modulation of gut microbiome. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, either L. pentosus at a dose of 1.0×1010 CFU or placebo was given twice a day for 12 weeks. A total of 82 subjects AD (aged 3 to 18 years) were enrolled in this study. Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD), blood tests for total IgE, eosinophil counts, cytokine concentrations were measured. Gut microbiome analysis was done by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics including clinical severity of AD between probiotics group (N=41) and placebo group (N=41). The mean change in the SCORAD score from weeks 2 to 12 was 6.8 in the probiotics group, which was significantly lower in the placebo group (mean change 11.2) (p <0.001). The changes of total epidermal water loss (TEWL) remained similar at week 12 in 2 groups. None of the concentrations of IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-13, IL-17, IFN-γ and TGF-β was statistically significantly different between groups at weeks 2 and 12. No significant changes of gut microbiome diversity was found in both groups. Our results suggest that supplementation with probiotic L. pentosus has no additional beneficial effects in the treatment of pediatric AD.