Editorial
Copyright ©2006 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 14, 2006; 12(6): 853-857
Published online Feb 14, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i6.853
Probiotics and the gastrointestinal tract: Where are we in 2005?
Irit Chermesh, Rami Eliakim
Irit Chermesh, Rami Eliakim, Gastroenterology Department, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel
Correspondence to: Professor Rami Eliakim, Gastroenterology Department, Rambam Medical Center, P.O.B 9602, Haifa 31096, Israel. r_eliakim@rambam.health.gov.il
Telephone: 972-4-8541912 ( Mobile: 972-50-2062323) Fax: 972-4-8543058
Received: August 15, 2005
Revised: August 25, 2005
Accepted: September 12, 2005
Published online: February 14, 2006
Abstract

Probiotic agents are live microbes or components of microbes that have a positive effect on the host. They exert their action through interplay with the immune system of the host. Some of this effect is local and some is systemic. The full story is yet to be discovered. Probiotics have a definite positive effect on rotavirus diarrhea, post antibiotic diarrhea and pouchitis. Their exact role in inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, other forms of infectious diarrhea, and prevention of cancer is yet to be determined. This review summarizes the data about probiotics in these conditions.

Keywords: Probiotics, Inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease, Lactose intolerance, Antibiotic associated diarrhea, Rotavirus, Pseudomembranous colitis, Clostridium dificile, Irritable bowel syndrome, Toll like receptor 9