bacteremia
3 interactions related to bacteremia
probiotics + immunosuppressants
In people whose immune systems are pharmacologically suppressed (for example by calcineurin inhibitors, mTOR inhibitors, corticosteroids, or mycophenolate), live probiotic organisms can occasionally cross the gut wall and enter the bloodstream, causing bacteremia, endocarditis, or sepsis. Case reports and a matched case-control study document Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium bloodstream infections in transplant and oncology patients, with some strains naturally resistant to first-line antibiotics. The event is uncommon but serious.
lactobacillus + tacrolimus
Tacrolimus is a calcineurin-inhibitor immunosuppressant used after solid-organ transplant. In immunosuppressed transplant recipients, Lactobacillus probiotic organisms can cross the gut wall and cause bloodstream infection. Published case reports document Lactobacillus rhamnosus bacteremia in renal transplant patients on tacrolimus, and many probiotic strains are intrinsically vancomycin-resistant, making treatment harder.
probiotics + chemotherapy
Chemotherapy can lower infection-fighting white blood cells and damage the gut lining, allowing live organisms from probiotic supplements to cross into the bloodstream and cause serious infection.