Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Aug 9:12:689958.
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.689958. eCollection 2021.

Utilizing Probiotics for the Prevention and Treatment of Gastrointestinal Diseases

Erin Milner  1   2 , Benjamin Stevens  1 , Martino An  1 , Victoria Lam  1 , Michael Ainsworth  1 , Preston Dihle  1 , Jocelyn Stearns  1 , Andrew Dombrowski  1 , Daniel Rego  1 , Katharine Segars  1
Affiliations
Review

Utilizing Probiotics for the Prevention and Treatment of Gastrointestinal Diseases

Erin Milner et al. Front Microbiol. .

Abstract

Probiotics are heavily advertised to promote a healthy gastrointestinal tract and boost the immune system. This review article summarizes the history and diversity of probiotics, outlines conventional in vitro assays and in vivo models, assesses the pharmacologic effects of probiotic and pharmaceutical co-administration, and the broad impact of clinical probiotic utilization for gastrointestinal disease indications.

Keywords: food microbiology; probiotic cultures; probiotic microbiology; probiotic pharmacology; probiotic treatment of gastrointestinal disease; probiotics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Structure of the villus of the small intestine and representative probiotic mechanisms of action. Artwork by Audrey Milner.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ables A., Simon I., Melton E. (2007). Update on Helicobacter pylori treatment. Am. Fam. Physician. 75 351–358. - PubMed
    1. Aidy S. E., Hooiveld G., Tremaroli V., Backhed F., Kleerebezem M. (2013). The gut microbiota and mucosal homeostasis: colonized at birth or at adulthood, does it matter? Gut Microbes 4 118–124. 10.4161/gmic.23362 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alby K., Nachamkin I. (2016). Gastrointestinal infections. Microbiol. Spectr. 4 10.1128/microbiolspec.DMIH2-0005-2015 - DOI - PubMed
    1. AlFaleh K., Anabrees J. (2014). Probiotics for prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants. Evid. Based Child Health 9 584–671. 10.1002/ebch.1976 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Altwegg M., Schnack J., Zbinden R. (1995). Influence of Saccharomyces boulardii on Aeromonas hemolysin. Med. Microbiol. Lett. 4 417–425.

LinkOut - more resources