Background Systematic reviews with meta-analyses and meta-regression suggest that timely probiotic use can prevent Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in hospitalized adults receiving antibiotics, but the cost effectiveness is unknown. We sought to evaluate the cost effectiveness of probiotic use for prevention of CDI versus no probiotic use in the United States. Methods We programmed a dec...

In the recent past, there has been an explosion of probiotic health-based products. Many reports indicated that there is poor survival of probiotic bacteria in these products. Further, the survival of these bacteria in the human gastro-intestinal system is questionable. Providing probiotic living cells with a physical barrier against adverse environmental conditions is therefore an approach cur...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Despite strong mechanistic data, and promising results from in vitro and animal studies, the ability of probiotic bacteria to improve blood pressure and serum lipid concentrations in humans remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Lactobacillus acidophilus La5 and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp lactis Bb12, provided in either yoghurt or capsule...

OBJECTIVES The objective of this study is to provide details on probiotic supplement use among young children in Taiwan. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS This study is based on the Taiwan Birth Cohort Study database. We used questionnaires to collect information on probiotic supplement use among young children from birth to 18 months of age, while also considering their demographic characteristics an...

The effect of a probiotic composed of Bacillus, Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Saccharomyces and Candida species (each at 10(7-8) colony-forming units (cfu)/g rice bran), given at a level of 150 g/kg diet for 6 weeks, on lipid metabolism was examined in the faeces, serum and liver of male rats. Liver weight decreased 35% in the rats fed on a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet containing the probiot...

The aim of this study was to perform the microbiological analysis of quality of 25 probiotic products, available on the Polish market. Analysis of bacterial viability in probiotic products showed that not all of these preparations possess a suitable number of bacteria. Moreover, some of the tested probiotic products contained bacterial strains other than those declared by the manufacturer. All ...

Probiotic bacteria are used in production of functional foods and pharmaceutical products. They play an important role in promoting and maintaining human health. In order, to produce health benefits probiotic strains should be present in a viable form at a suitable level during the product is shelf life until consumption and maintain high viability throughout the gastrointestinal tract. Many re...

AIM : Although numerous animal studies suggest that probiotic therapy has beneficial effects in various liver diseases, the evidence for beneficial effects in human liver disease is controversial. This study was carried out to investigate the efficacy of probiotic therapy in alleviating small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and permeability in chronic liver disease. METHODS Fifty-three...

Probiotics are gaining more and more interest as alternatives for antibiotics or anti-inflammatory drugs. However, their mode of action is poorly understood. This review will present examples of probiotic actions from three general modes of actions into which probiotic effects can be classified. Probiotics might modulate the host's immune system, affect other microorganisms directly or act on m...

Lactic acid bacteria found as sub-dominant component of the human and animal microbial gut represents one of the most significant groups of probiotic organisms. During the last decade probiotics become an important and viable ingredient in the functional foods as well as the pharmaceutical industry. In this paper, we shall review the most important findings with regards to the in vitro screenin...