BACKGROUND Probiotics are widely studied both in the treatment and prevention of allergic diseases, but their mode of action is poorly known. OBJECTIVE Our aim was to examine the effect of probiotic bacteria on in vivo cytokine, antibody, and inflammatory responses in allergy-prone infants. METHODS In a randomized double-blind study, probiotic bacteria or placebo were given for 1 month befo...

The enteric flora comprises approximately 95% of the total number of cells in the human body and can elicit immune responses while protecting against microbial pathogens. However, the resident bacterial flora of the gastrointestinal tract may also be implicated in the pathogenesis of diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohn disease). The objectives of the Probio...

The literature presents a growing body of evidence demonstrating the positive effect of probiotics on health. Probiotic consumption levels are rising quickly in the world despite the fluctuation of their viability and functionality. Technological methods aiming at improving probiotic characteristics are thus highly wanted. However, microbial metabolic engineering toolbox is not available for th...

The notion that ingestion of so-called ‘good’ bacteria (‘probiotics’) or food components favouring growth of probiotic bacteria (‘prebiotics’) can have advantageous effects on human health arouses strong opinions, both in agreement and against. Remarkably few data have been fuelling this debate. Nevertheless, two important studies have now appeared, one published in The Lancet showing that prob...

Nowadays, there is increasing interest in the production of functional foods, particularly probiotic foods. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) particularly strains of Lactobacillus are important bacteria in food microbiology and human nutrition due to their ability to fermented food production and have received considerable attention as probiotics. The traditional fermented dairy foods as a rich source...

BACKGROUND The well-known prebiotics are carbohydrates but their effects may not always be beneficial, as they can also encourage the growth of non-probiotic bacteria such as Eubacterium biforme and Clostridium perfringens. Therefore, new alternatives such as non-carbohydrate sources to stimulate the growth of probiotics are needed. The aim of this work was to evaluate (I) the green tea polyphe...

Probiotic bacteria exert beneficial effects on human health through suppression of harmful microorganisms and immunomodulatory activity. Preclinical and clinical studies have accumulated evidence of the effect of orally administered probiotics in the management of allergic diseases, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and other debilitating disorders. For example, oral administration of Bifidobac...

Accurate enumeration of bacterial count in probiotic formulation is imperative to ensure that the product adheres to regulatory standards and citation in consumer product label. Standard methods like plate count, can enumerate only replicating bacterial population under selected culture conditions. Viable but non culturable bacteria (VBNC) retain characteristics of living cells and can regain c...

During the past twenty years, the trend of dairy food manufacturers has been to incorporate probiotic bacteria into some fermented and non fermented dairy products. This is primarily due to potential health benefits attributed to their consumption [1]. Lactobacillus acidophilus is involved in the production of many fermented milk products with claimed probiotic value such as reduction of lactos...

A lthough the use of live bacteria to promote health evolved from the work of Metchnikoff in 1908 it has only been recently that probiotics, defined as “live microorganisms which when supplemented in adequate amounts confers a health benefit on the host” have achieved widespread use (1,2). The most typical probiotic bacteria include those that are lactic acid producing such as Lactobacilli and ...