More than a million people die every year due to gastric cancer and peptic ulcer. Helicobacter pylori infection in stomach is the most important reason for these diseases. Interestingly, only 10-20% of the H. pylori infected individuals suffer from these gastric diseases and rest of the infected individuals remain asymptomatic. The genotypes of H. pylori, host genetic background, lifestyle incl...

BACKGROUND Oral rehydration salts (ORS), zinc, and continued feeding are the recommended treatments for community-acquired acute diarrhea among young children. However, probiotics are becoming increasingly popular treatments for diarrhea in some countries. We sought to estimate the effect of probiotics on diarrhea morbidity and mortality in children < 5 years of age. METHODS We conducted a sy...

BACKGROUND Probiotics have rarely been studied in young healthy infants from low-income countries. This phase I study investigated the safety and acceptability of two probiotics in Bangladesh. METHODS Healthy infants aged four to twelve weeks from urban slums in Bangladesh were randomized to one of three different intervention dosing arms (daily, weekly, biweekly - once every two weeks) of La...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a troublesome disease. Some strains of probiotics reportedly exert remarkable immunomodulatory effects, and so we designed a prospective double-blind randomized placebo-controlled clinical study to assess their effects in Korean adults with IBS. METHODS IBS patients who met Rome III criteria were randomly assigned to receive composite probioti...

BACKGROUND Persistent diarrhoea (diarrhoea lasting more than 14 days) accounts for one third of all diarrhoea related deaths in developing countries in some studies. Probiotics may help treatment. OBJECTIVES To evaluate probiotics for treating persistent diarrhoea in children. SEARCH METHODS We searched the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group Specialized Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, a...

Background Influenza infection is a common disease with a huge disease burden. Influenza vaccination has been widely used, but concerns regarding vaccine efficacy exist, especially in the elderly. Probiotics are live microorganisms with immunomodulatory effects and may enhance the immune responses to influenza vaccination. Methods We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determin...

BACKGROUND The efficacy of probiotics for the prevention of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is highly controversial, particularly with regard to the prevention of recurrent CDI. We hypothesize that primary prevention of CDI among patients receiving antibiotics might be a more achievable goal for probiotics than prevention in patients with previous CDI where the host flora is markedly alte...

Probiotics, which have been widely used in livestock rearing, have recently been applied to aquaculture. Probiotics are defined as live cells or a substrate that provides benefits through stimulation of growth, improved digestion, and improved immune response. Probiotics can also improve water quality. This review summarizes the current understanding of the use of probiotics in aquaculture, inc...