Efficacy of a Synbiotic Chewable Tablet in the Prevention of Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea (Report‪)‬

1. INTRODUCTION Antibiotics have significantly decreased mortality resulting from infectious disease and increased the success rates of many medical procedures such as surgery. However, use of antibiotics also causes significant losses to the population of beneficial microbiota residing in the digestive tract. The digestive tract is the front line of defense against infection, representing a significant portion of the total immune system [1]. Loss of native populations of beneficial microbiota exposes the intestinal mucosa and allows non-beneficial and pathological species, including those that are antibiotic-resistant, to populate the intestine [2,3]. This results in a variety of biological changes in the digestive tract including changes in immune function, inflammatory response and normal metabolism [4]. Such changes increase susceptibility to antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) and antibiotic-resistant infectious diseases [2].