October 28, 2002 – Probiotics, bacteria that exert a beneficial influence on the intestinal flora, the immune system and general well-being, may be effective in the prevention and treatment of several diseases. This is what emerges from the 2nd International Symposium held in Montreal on October 24 and 25.
The results of the studies of the researchers who came to present their work are convincing, in particular those of Marie-Christine Moreau (researcher at the National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA) in France) on probiotic therapy as a means of stimulate the immune system. In a study carried out using mice, Moreau demonstrated that the bifidobacteria present in breast milk greatly reduced the risk of diarrhea in infants.
In this study, bifidobacteria from the feces of infants were introduced into the digestive tract of mice. The first group of mice received the faecal bacterial flora of a child breastfed by its mother and the second, that of a baby fed formula. Twenty days later, the immune response of the first group of animals against Rotaviruses (viruses that cause diarrhea) was four times that of other mice.
Other studies, cited by Ms. Moreau, have also demonstrated the effectiveness of probiotics in preventing food allergy1 and in the treatment of eczema in infants2.
To stimulate the immune system, Ms. Moreau believes strongly in the preservation (and even the enrichment) of the intestinal flora in the child in gestation and during childbirth. On the other hand, “it is enough to give a single injection of antibiotic to a pregnant mother to destabilize and partially destroy the intestinal flora of the child”, she says. However, a child born with a less developed intestinal flora may be more vulnerable to allergies and Rotaviruses, among others.
At the Symposium, other researchers demonstrated the effectiveness of ingesting a cocktail of bacteria in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome, pouchitis 3, inflammatory bowel disease and D’urogenital infections.
However, research must continue to find out, among other things, which dosages are best suited to each of the pathologies. Thus, in the treatment of diseases such as pouchitis, “to succeed in transforming the intestinal flora of a person who harbors billions of bacteria, we have had to administer billions and billions of probiotics,” said Paolo Gionchetti, researcher at the University of Bologna in Italy. In comparison, the doses ingested as a preventive measure (by eating bacteria found in yogurt in particular) are much lower.
Probiotics are found in yogurt, pectin, cheeses, and other fermented products like sauerkraut, tempeh, miso, etc. It was the Nobel Prize winner Élie Metchnikoff who, at the start of the 20th century, was the first to hypothesize that lactic acid bacteria had a beneficial effect on the intestinal microflora.
Stéphane Gagné – PasseportSanté.net
1. Isolauri E, Rautava S, Kalliomaki M, Kirjavainen P, Salminen S. Role of probiotics in food hypersensitivity, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2002 Jun; 2 (3): 263-71.
2. Isolauri E, Arvola T, Sutas Y, Moilanen E, Salminen S. Probiotics in the management of atopic eczema, Clin Exp Allergy 2000 Nov; 30 (11): 1604-10.
3. P. Gionchetti, C. Amadini, F. Rizzello, A. Venturi & M. Campieri. Treatment of mild to moderate ulcerative colitis and pouchitis, Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Flight. 16 Issue s4, p.13, July 2002.