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Septicemia from Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, from a Probiotic Enriched Yogurt, in a Patient with Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation

Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins volume 11, pages 295–298 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

Probiotic-rich foods are consumed without much restriction. We report here, a case of septic shock caused by yogurt derived Lactobacillus species in a 54-year-old male patient with acute promyelocytic leukemia, in second complete remission, and who was an autologous stem cell transplantation recipient. He received high dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. He ingested commercially available probiotic-enriched yogurt because of severe diarrhea. One week later, he developed septic shock, and the pathogen was determined by strain-specific PCR analysis as Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (ATCC 53103), which was found to be identical with the strain in the yogurt he consumed. Thus, because even low virulent Lactobacilli in the probiotic products can be pathogenic in the compromised hosts, ingestion of such products should be considered with caution in neutropenic patients with severe diarrhea, such as stem cell transplantation recipients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematology and Clinical Immunology, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan

    Satoshi Koyama, Hiroyuki Fujita, Yasufumi Ishiyama, Eri Yamamoto, Yoshimi Ishii, Yukako Hattori, Maki Hagihara, Etsuko Yamazaki, Naoto Tomita & Hideaki Nakajima

  2. Department of Hematology, Kanagawa Cancer Center, Yokohama, Japan

    Satoshi Koyama & Yasufumi Ishiyama

  3. Department of Hematology, Saiseikai Yokohama Nanbu Hospital, 3-2-10 Konandai Konanku, Yokohama, 234-0054, Japan

    Hiroyuki Fujita

  4. Research Center for Fungal and Microbial Dynamism, Shinshu University, Kamiina, Japan

    Takeshi Shimosato

  5. Department of Transfusion, Yokohama City University Hospital, Yokohama, Japan

    Aki Kamijo

  6. Department of Hematology, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan

    Eri Yamamoto & Yoshimi Ishii

  7. Department of Hematology, Fujisawa City Hospital, Fujisawa, Japan

    Yukako Hattori

  8. Clinical Laboratory Department, Yokohama City University Hospital, Yokohama, Japan

    Etsuko Yamazaki

  9. Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Kawasaki, Japan

    Naoto Tomita

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  1. Satoshi Koyama
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  2. Hiroyuki Fujita
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  3. Takeshi Shimosato
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  4. Aki Kamijo
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  5. Yasufumi Ishiyama
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  7. Yoshimi Ishii
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  8. Yukako Hattori
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  9. Maki Hagihara
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  10. Etsuko Yamazaki
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  11. Naoto Tomita
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  12. Hideaki Nakajima
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On behalf of the Yokohama Cooperative Study Group for Hematology (YACHT)

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hiroyuki Fujita.

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On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there are no conflicts of interest. The authors declare that the final manuscript has not been published before and the work is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

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Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report. A copy of the written consent may be requested for review from the corresponding author.

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Koyama, S., Fujita, H., Shimosato, T. et al. Septicemia from Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, from a Probiotic Enriched Yogurt, in a Patient with Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation. Probiotics & Antimicro. Prot. 11, 295–298 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12602-018-9399-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12602-018-9399-6

Keywords

  • Lactobacillus
  • Probiotic yogurt, bacteremia
  • Leukemia
  • Stem cell transplantation