Oral consumption of probiotic bacteria has the potential to support the health of American consumers. This paper will discuss the rationale of the probiotic theory, several health targets for probiotic bacteria, probiotic products in the U.S. and, finally, issues pertaining to communication about probiotic products to the consumer.

The use of defined probiotic cultures in the poultry industry has recently become more common. However, few conclusive studies regarding their efficacy under commercial conditions have been reported in the scientific literature. We conducted a study that included 118 commercial turkey hen lots, ranging from 1,542 to 30,390 hens per lot, of either Nicholas or Hybrid genetic lines, to look at the...

BACKGROUND The aim of the current study was to determine effects of probiotic yoghurt and multispecies probiotic capsule supplementation on biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammatory factors in petrochemical workers. METHODS This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was done among petrochemical workers. Subjects were randomly divided into three groups to receive 100 g/day p...

Twenty Lithuanian Black-and-White calves (10 bulls, 10 heifers) were used to evaluate the effects of the supplemental probiotic product, Enterococcus faecium M74 (2.4 g/day/calve), added to fresh milk and skimmed milk in a 56 day-study. The probiotic was administered by dietary supplementation to first group of calves and their respective pens (probiotic group), whereas the second group (contro...

Twelve ruminally cannulated Holstein calves (age, 12 ± 3 weeks) were used to identify the effect of a probiotic comprised of Lactobacillus plantarum, Enterococcus faecium and Clostridium butyricum on ruminal components. The calves were adapted to a diet containing a 50% high-concentrate (standard diet) for 1 week, and then, the probiotic was given once daily for 5 days (day 1-5) at 1.5 or 3.0 g...

Strain-specificity of probiotic effects has been a cornerstone principle of probiotic science for decades. Certainly, some important mechanisms are present in only a few probiotic strains. But scientific advances now reveal commonalities among members of certain taxonomic groups of probiotic microbes. Some clinical benefits likely derive from these shared mechanisms, suggesting that sub-species...

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...