Digestive tolerability and acceptability of Fibersol-2 in healthy and diarrheal children 1–3 years old at a rural facility, Bangladesh: Results from a four arm exploratory study

BACKGROUND: Fibersol-2 has some beneficial effects on human health. We aimed to evaluate the digestive tolerability and acceptability of Fibersol-2 in healthy and diarrheal children, as well as improvement in stool consistencies in young diarrheal children. METHODS: Sixty children of either sex, aged 1–3 years having four groups (healthy children/low dose, healthy children/high dose, children with diarrhea/low dose and children with diarrhea/high dose) were enrolled into this exploratory study between 1(st) August to 23(rd) October 2017. Two presumptive doses, low (2.5g) and high (5g), twice daily with 50 ml drinking water for seven days were the interventions. Outcomes were to observe the development of possible abdominal symptoms, such as pain, distension, rumbling, and bloating during the intervention and post-intervention periods in healthy and diarrheal children as well as improvement in stool consistencies in diarrheal children. RESULTS: Among the diarrheal children, the median (IQR) duration of resolution of diarrhea was 3.9 (2.9, 5.1) days vs. 3.5 (2.0, 8.0) days, p = 0.885; in low dose and high dose groups, respectively. Significant difference was observed in terms of abdominal pain (27% vs. 7%, p = 0.038) and distension (40% vs. 0%, p<0.001) in diarrheal children, compared to healthy children during the pre-intervention period. We also observed significant difference in respect of abdominal distension (23% vs. 0%, p = 0.011), rumbling (27% vs. 0%, p = 0.005) and bloating (43% vs. 3%, p = 0.001) in diarrheal children, compared to healthy children during the intervention period. However, no significant difference was observed in relation to abdominal pain (p = 0.347) and distension (p = 0.165) during the pre-intervention period, compared to the intervention period in diarrheal children. Moreover, no significant difference was observed during the post-intervention period for the diarrheal and healthy children. CONCLUSION: Fibersol-2 was found to be well tolerated in healthy and diarrheal children aged 1–3 years. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was registered as part of a randomized trial at ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT03565393. The authors confirmed that all ongoing and related trials for this drug/intervention were registered.