Clinical study on saccharomyces boulardii in the treatment of patients with mild to moderate ulcerative colitis

Aim: To investigate the clinical therapeutic efficacy of saccharomyces boulardii(Sb) in combination with mesalazine in patients with mild to moderate ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods: Sixty patients aged 18 to 75 years with mild to moderate UC were divided into two groups, the combination group and the mesalazine group. Clinical remission rate (CRR) was calculated with the formula: CRR= number of complete remission cases + number of effective cases)/all cases. The clinical symptom score (CSS), endoscopic score (ES) and histopathological score (HS) were recorded before and after treatment. Result: After two week's treatment, the CSS in the combination group was significantly decreased (P<0.05), but in the mesalazine group it showed no significant changes (P>0.05). After four week's treatment, the CSS in both combination group and mesalazine group was significantly decreased(P<0.05). After 8 week's treatment, the CSS, ES and HS in the combination group were significantly lower than those in the mesalazine group(P<0.05). CRR in the combination group (46.7%) was significantly higher than that in the mesalazine group (20.0%) after 8 weeks' treatment (P<0.05). Conclusion: Saccharomyces boulardii in combination with mesalazine is faster and more effective in improving clinical symptoms, endoscopic and histopathological changes in patients with mild to moderate UC than using mesalazine alone.