title: [Reduction of acute recurrence in patients with chronic recurrent hypertrophic sinusitis by treatment with a bacterial immunostimulant (Enterococcus faecalis Bacteriae of human origin].
abstract: A double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter study in 157 patients with chronic recurrent sinusitis investigated the occurrence of acute relapses during treatment of patients with a bacterial immunostimulant (3 x 30 drops/day), comprised of cells and autolysate of human Enterococcus faecalis bacteria (Symbioflor 1, n = 78) in comparison to placebo (n = 79). The study included a treatment period of 6 months and a follow-up period of 8 months. Under verum the occurrence of relapses (50 incidents) was about half (56%) the number observed under placebo (90 incidents). In the Kaplan-Meier test the verum preparation emerged as significantly superior (p = 0.045, log rank test) compared to placebo. This superiority of verum was found during the treatment period with 17 vs. 33 relapses (p = 0.019) as well as during the follow-up observation with 33 vs. 57 relapses (p = 0.013). The time interval to the first relapse was clearly longer under verum (513 days) than under placebo (311 days). The relative risk for a relapse under the test preparation compared to placebo was 49.0% during the treatment and 55.8% during the follow-up period. Severity of the acute relapses was comparable in both groups. However, antibiotic therapy was only required in 2 patients treated with verum compared to 6 patients in the placebo group. Both preparations were well tolerated and serious side effects did not occur in either group. No changes in laboratory tests--hematology and clinical chemistry--were observed. Potential immunomodifying effects of the test preparation in view of the significant reduction in relapses were discussed.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Mikroökologie, Herborn-Hörbach, Germany.
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Habermann
authors.forename: Kurt
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.forename: Horst
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Skarabis
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kunze
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rusch
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000328:Adult; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D013293:Enterococcus faecalis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy; D008297:Male; D019936:Probiotics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D012852:Sinusitis / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic