Lactic acid bacteria strains useful against urogenital pathogens and compositions containing same

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for preventing or treating urogenital infections in females, which comprises administering a pharmaceutical preparation comprising, in combination with a suitable galenical carrier, a therapeutically effective amount of at least one lactic acid bacteria strain of the genus L. acidophilus, L. crispatus, L. gasseri, L. helveticus and L. jensenii selected for their ability to kill urogenital and / or gastrointestinal pathogens and their ability to inhibit internalization of urogenital and / or gastrointestinal pathogens within vaginal epithelial cells, as well as for their ability to modulate a humoral and / or cellular immune response at the vaginal and / or gastrointestinal level, in particular to inhibit the inflammatory syndrome as well as the infectious syndrome.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a continuation of international application PCT / EP2005 / 011150 filed October 17, 2005, the entire content of which is expressly incorporated herein.FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] This invention refers to the treatment of infectious troubles caused by various pathogens in humans, more specifically to the prevention and / or the treatment of urogenital infections in females. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Several experimental and clinical studies have assessed already the potential of certain lactobacilli in the prevention or treatment of certain genito-urinary tract infections such as bacterial vaginitis, vaginosis, or urinary tract infections and relevant therapy is applied for many decades already.

[0004] Urogenital infections remain a common problem, particularly in the female population. Bacterial adherence to the urogenital epithelium is recognized as an important mechanism in the initiation and pathogenesis of u...

Images