The beneficial effects of food with added live microbes (probiotics) on human health are being increasingly promoted by health professionals. Probiotic products available in the markets today, are usually in the form of fermented milks and yoghurts; however, with an increase in the consumer vegetarianism throughout the developed countries, there is also a demand for the vegetarian probiotic pro...

The human gut is one of the most complex ecosystems, composed of 1013-1014 microorganisms which play an important role in human health. In addition, some food products contain live bacteria which transit through our gastrointestinal tract and could exert beneficial effects on our health (known as probiotic effect). Among the numerous proposed health benefits attributed to commensal and probioti...

Different probiotic strains are incorporated into cultured-milk drinks by respective manufacturers with the common aim of providing health benefits to the consumers. Four common cultured-milk products (brands N, S, V and Y) were evaluated for their quality of probiotic strains used, based on the susceptibility of the probiotics to various pH levels simulated to mimic the gastrointestinal system...

Bacteriocin-producing probiotic Streptococcus salivarius M18 offers beneficial modulatory capabilities within the oral microbiome, apparently through potent inhibitory activity against potentially deleterious bacteria, such as Streptococcus pyogenes. The oral cavity persistence of S. salivarius M18 was investigated in 75 subjects receiving four different doses for 28 days. Sixty per cent of the...

AIMS This study investigates the antagonistic effects of the probiotic strains Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14 against vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC)-causing Candida glabrata. METHODS AND RESULTS Growth inhibitory activities of Lact. rhamnosus GR-1 and Lact. reuteri RC-14 strains against C. glabrata were demonstrated using a spot overlay assay and a plate-based mi...

BACKGROUND The beneficial effects of Lactobacillus species have been reported but the role of these species including Lactobacillus casei (L. casei) on oral health is not well documented. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of conventional or probiotic cheese containing L.casei on salivary Streptococcus mutans (SM) and Lactobacilli levels. METHODS In this double-blind contro...

Probiotics are known to reduce antibiotic associated diarrhea (AAD) and Clostridium difficile associated diarrhea (CDAD) risk in a strain-specific manner. The aim of this study was to determine the dose-response effect of a four strain probiotic combination (HOWARU(®) Restore) on the incidence of AAD and CDAD and severity of gastrointestinal symptoms in adult in-patients requiring antibiotic th...

The effects of single and combined use of two different probiotic bacterial species, Bacillus licheniformis and Lactobacillus rhamnosus on growth performance of Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei was evaluated. Shrimp were treated with probiotics in entire crop duration with different test diets. Twelve culture ponds were divided into four groups of each three, Control (CP) without probi...

AIMS The objective of this study was to generate strain-specific genomic patterns of a bank of 67 commercial and reference probiotic strains, with a focus on probiotic lactobacilli. METHODS AND RESULTS Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used as the primary method for strain differentiation. This method was compared with carbohydrate fermentation analysis. To supplement visual compari...

Proteome analysis was used to study the effects of probiotic bacteria treatment on the protein expression in early Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) larvae. The main focus was on proteins connected to immune function, growth and development. The results demonstrated that none of the identified cod larvae proteins showing up-regulation after administration of probiotic bacteria are known to have a fun...