Optimal DX Supplement Series: Bacterial Infection Support

Optimal Takeaways

Bacteria are ubiquitous in our environment, and infections can arise from contact with harmful bacteria through several sources. These include direct contact with an infected person or animal, exposure to contaminated food, water, or surfaces, and even through insect bites (Doron 2008). Moreover, normally harmless bacteria in one part of the body can become pathogenic if they migrate to another area. For example, bacteria from the skin can cause serious infections if they enter the bloodstream or internal organs (Medline Plus 2024).

Bacterial infections can lead to various illnesses and conditions resulting from bacterial growth or the production of toxins. These infections can occur in various parts of the body, including the skin, gastrointestinal tract, lungs, heart, brain, and blood. Symptoms can range from localized signs, such as redness and swelling in skin infections, to systemic manifestations like fever and malaise in more severe cases (Doroin 2008).

The immune system is the body’s primary defense against pathogenic bacteria. In cases of mild infection, various nutrients and herbs can bolster immune defenses or even directly inhibit the proliferative aspects of some bacteria.

Supportive Supplements

Garlic

400 to 1000 mg/d of standardized garlic powder for 6 days to 3 months (Ansary 2020, Gebreyohannes 2013, Mohammadzadeh 2014)

• 500-mg tablets of garlic powder (equivalent to 8.9 mg of alliin) twice daily for 7 days had equivalent effectiveness to oral metronidazole for treatment of bacterial vaginosis. Alliin in garlic is converted to the antibacterial compound allicin (Mohammadzadeh 2014)
• 400-mg garlic tablet daily for 6 days proved effective at reducing susceptibility to nosocomial infection (e.g., septicemia, UTI) in ICU patients (Madineh 2017)

Probiotics

• Critically ill patients given 900 billion units of viable, multi-strain probiotic twice daily for 7 days plus prebiotic fiber had significantly larger increases in systemic IgA and IgG concentrations than patients who received placebo or sonicates (Alberda 2007).
• Older adults given 2.10 billion B. subtilis CU1 spores for 10-day periods followed by 18-day breaks over 4 months had significantly increased fecal and salivary secretory IgA concentrations and decreased frequency of respiratory infections compared to the placebo (Lefevre 2015).
• Therapeutic dosing can vary depending on the clinical situation and type of probiotic. However, a dose of 100 million to 10 billion is often needed to be effective (Stavropoulou 2020).

Echinacea

150 to 300 mg of powdered extract three times daily (Skidmore-Roth 2010)

• A meta-analysis of studies found that echinacea can safely prevent respiratory tract infections and associated complications, decreasing the demand for antibiotics (Gancitano 2024).

Oregano

Oregano and oregano oil are used regularly for their antimicrobial and antioxidant effects and may be considered a natural alternative to pharmaceutical antibiotics (Mith 2015). Dosing will vary depending on concentration and clinical application.

Oregano oil can also be used topically.

• Oregano oil showed a significant antibacterial activity against 11 multi-drug resistant clinical isolates obtained from combat casualties and also effectively eradicated biofilms (Lu 2018).
• Three topical applications of oregano oil at 10 mg/ml for 3 consecutive days sufficiently reduced the bacterial load in wounds 24 h after bacterial inoculation (Lu 2018).

D-Mannose

1-3 g/d day mixed in water (Porru 2014)

• A meta-analysis showed that supplementation with D-mannose is protective for recurrent UTI with possibly similar effectiveness as antibiotics (Lenger 2020).
• D-mannose at 1 g three times a day, every eight hours for 2 weeks, and subsequently 1 g twice a day for 22 weeks was effective treatment for recurrent UTIs in adult women (Porru 2014).

Vitamin C

Oral: 500 mg to 6 g daily (Mousavi 2019, Cerullo 2020, Hemilä 2017) and ∼3 g/d intravenous (Carr 2020)

• Vitamin C is used to combat or prevent pathogenic bacterial infection. At least 100-200 mg/day should come from the daily diet with additional dosing provided via supplementation as needed (Mousavi 2019).
• Supplementation with 500 mg/day for 30 days in elderly subjects improved T cell proliferation and immune status (Mousavi 2019).
• A vitamin C dose of 6 g/d normalized white blood cell vitamin C levels in subjects with upper respiratory infections (Hemilä 2017).
• Doses of 250-800 mg/day and 500-1600 mg/d in pneumonia patients reduced hospital length of stay by 19% and 36%, respectively. Temperature, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and chest x-rays improved with supplementation as well (Hemilä 2017).

References

Alberda, Cathy, et al. "Effects of probiotic therapy in critically ill patients: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial." The American journal of clinical nutrition 85.3 (2007): 816-823.

Ankri, Serge, and David Mirelman. "Antimicrobial properties of allicin from garlic." Microbes and infection 1.2 (1999): 125-129.

Ansary, Johura, et al. "Potential health benefit of garlic based on human intervention studies: A brief overview." Antioxidants 9.7 (2020): 619.

Carr AC. Vitamin C in Pneumonia and Sepsis. In: Chen Q, Vissers MCM, editors. Vitamin C: New Biochemical and Functional Insights [Internet]. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press; 2020 Jan. Chapter Seven. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK568561/ doi: 10.1201/9780429442025-7

Cerullo, Giuseppe, et al. "The long history of vitamin C: from prevention of the common cold to potential aid in the treatment of COVID-19." Frontiers in immunology 11 (2020): 574029.

Doron, S. and S.L. Gorbach. “Bacterial Infections: Overview.” International Encyclopedia of Public Health (2008): 273–282. doi:10.1016/B978-012373960-5.00596-7

Gancitano, Giuseppe, et al. "Echinacea Reduces Antibiotics by Preventing Respiratory Infections: A Meta-Analysis (ERA-PRIMA)." Antibiotics 13.4 (2024): 364.

Gebreyohannes, Gebreselema, and Mebrahtu Gebreyohannes. "Medicinal values of garlic: A review." International Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences 5.9 (2013): 401-408.

Hemilä, Harri. “Vitamin C and Infections.” Nutrients vol. 9,4 339. 29 Mar. 2017, doi:10.3390/nu9040339

Lefevre, Marie, et al. "Probiotic strain Bacillus subtilis CU1 stimulates immune system of elderly during common infectious disease period: a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study." Immunity & Ageing 12 (2015): 1-11.

Lenger, Stacy M et al. “D-mannose vs other agents for recurrent urinary tract infection prevention in adult women: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” American journal of obstetrics and gynecology vol. 223,2 (2020): 265.e1-265.e13. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2020.05.048

Lu, Min, et al. "Bactericidal property of oregano oil against multidrug-resistant clinical isolates." Frontiers in microbiology 9 (2018): 2329.

Madineh, Hossein et al. “Impact of garlic tablets on nosocomial infections in hospitalized patients in intensive care units.” Electronic physician vol. 9,4 4064-4071. 25 Apr. 2017, doi:10.19082/4064

Mith, Hasika et al. “The impact of oregano (Origanum heracleoticum) essential oil and carvacrol on virulence gene transcription by Escherichia coli O157:H7.” FEMS microbiology letters vol. 362,1 (2015): 1-7. doi:10.1093/femsle/fnu021

Mohammadzadeh, Farnaz et al. “Comparing the therapeutic effects of garlic tablet and oral metronidazole on bacterial vaginosis: a randomized controlled clinical trial.” Iranian Red Crescent medical journal vol. 16,7 (2014): e19118. doi:10.5812/ircmj.19118

Mousavi, Soraya et al. “Immunomodulatory and Antimicrobial Effects of Vitamin C.” European journal of microbiology & immunology vol. 9,3 73-79. 16 Aug. 2019, doi:10.1556/1886.2019.00016

Porru, D., et al. "Oral D-mannose in recurrent urinary tract infections in women: A pilot study." Journal of Clinical Urology 7.3 (2014): 208-213.

Skidmore-Roth, Linda. Mosby's Handbook of Herbs & Natural Supplements (p. 239). Elsevier Health Sciences. Kindle Edition.

Staphylococcal Infections. National Institutes of Health Medline Plus. Accessed August 8, 2024. https://medlineplus.gov/staphylococcalinfections.html

Stavropoulou, Elisavet, and Eugenia Bezirtzoglou. “Probiotics in Medicine: A Long Debate.” Frontiers in immunology vol. 11 2192. 25 Sep. 2020, doi:10.3389/fimmu.2020.02192