Saccharomyces Boulardii Lynside® Pro SCB 30 capsules YAMAMOTO

Yamamoto® Research Saccharomyces Boulardii is a dietary supplement containing probiotics that help maintain a healthy balance of gut flora*. Each daily dose provides 6 billion colony-forming units of Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii.

Saccharomyces boulardii is a non-pathogenic probiotic yeast that directly counteracts many pathogens and has been used for decades in Europe to treat various types of diarrhea. It is commonly used in medical practice to prevent diarrhea associated with antibiotic therapy or nasogastric feeding, as well as to treat acute diarrhea in adults and children, or diarrhea associated with Clostridium difficile, and even chronic diarrhea in patients with HIV infection. Among “non-bacterial” probiotics, the only one with long-established proven efficacy is Saccharomyces boulardii (“Sb”), as it is the only “therapeutic” yeast species whose benefit as a probiotic has been demonstrated in the literature (see the “Marchand and Vandenplas” study, 2000). To date, over 40 clinical studies and more than 40 pharmacological studies have been published on this valuable Saccharomyces boulardii (McFarland, 2010), and thanks to this body of clinical evidence, this therapeutic yeast is recommended by the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Pediatric Nutrition (ESPGHAN) for the treatment of all types of acute diarrhea in children (Guarino et al., 2014).

Saccharomyces boulardii is a wild tropical yeast discovered in Indochina in 1923 by the French scientist Henri Boulard, who succeeded in isolating it from the peel of various tropical fruits (lychees and mangosteens) after observing that indigenous populations used the peel of these tropical fruits as an antidiarrheal remedy.
This characteristic is advantageous because, in humans, Saccharomyces boulardii does not permanently colonize the intestinal tract, and as early as 6–7 days after discontinuing administration, the cells are no longer detectable in the stool.

Precisely because it is “not a bacterium,” its pharmacokinetic properties—including absorption, metabolism, distribution, and elimination—are quite different from those of other so-called “bacterial” probiotics, as it passes through the intestine without being absorbed or metabolized. Once administered orally, it resists the gastric environment and bile acids, reaching the intestine alive and viable without being absorbed, achieving steady-state concentrations within 3 days, and its elimination occurs 5 days after discontinuing its use.

A very important characteristic, which has made it so widely used in clinical settings for so long, is its resistance to antibiotics. Saccharomyces B. is not inactivated by antibiotic drugs and can therefore be taken concurrently, whereas bacteria are almost always killed (Graff et al., 2008). For this reason, it is commonly used alongside antibiotic therapies to prevent diarrhea caused by their use. Another interesting characteristic that distinguishes this yeast from its bacterial “probiotic counterparts” is its surface area, which is about 10 times larger than that of bacteria. This leads to specific activities, such as substrate competition, and a sort of “magnet effect” toward pathogens (Billoo et al., 2006; McFarland, 2010).

The clinical efficacy of Saccharomyces boulardii has been evaluated in various types of acute conditions, ranging from antibiotic-associated diarrhea, Clostridium difficile infections, Helicobacter pylori infection, acute diarrhea in adults and children (where it is widely used), diarrhea related to enteral nutrition, the troublesome traveler’s diarrhea, Vibrio cholerae infection, amoebic dysentery, and various other infections. Furthermore, the clinical efficacy of Saccharomyces boulardii has been evaluated in various types of chronic inflammatory diseases, including very serious conditions such as Crohn’s disease, the more “common” irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, giardiasis, amebic colitis, and even HIV-associated diarrhea.

It is, however, a fact that in both children and adults, diarrhea is often a condition that begins rather suddenly and lasts anywhere from a few days to several weeks. Its severity depends on its cause, which can be food contamination, poisoning, a bacterial infection, or more commonly a viral (such as “seasonal” gastroenteritis) or parasitic infection. In these cases as well, several studies have been conducted to evaluate the potential of Saccharomyces boulardii in the treatment of acute diarrhea, confirming its effectiveness particularly in cases of acute gastroenteritis in children, where results suggest that treatment significantly strengthens the immune response. Studies have also shown that Saccharomyces boulardii, as an adjunct to rehydration solutions, reduces the duration of diarrhea, accelerating recovery and reducing the risk of prolonged diarrhea. Many studies indicate that Saccharomyces boulardii interacts with numerous molecular mechanisms associated with intestinal inflammation, promoting a reduction in the inflammatory state typical of colitis, including histological damage, as well as diarrhea. In the intestinal mucosa, it decreases levels of various pro-inflammatory mediators—IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and iNOS, while promoting the secretion of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Furthermore, Saccharomyces boulardii also reduces colonization of the intestine by Candida albicans.

Saccharomyces boulardii is most effective when administered within the first 48 hours of symptom onset, for a duration ranging from 7 days to 6 months, either as monotherapy or as an adjunctive therapy, depending on the specific condition (McFarland 2010).