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Many people take probiotics in foods or supplements in the hope of improving their digestive health. But a new small study suggests that some people might not benefit as much as any of these so-called good bacteria.
The study found that when people consumed standard probiotic bacterial strains, the entrails of some people appeared to be resistant to the bacteria, which meant that the bacteria did not succeed in living or colonizing their bowels. But for others, the bacteria easily grew and thrived in the intestines.
The study suggests that not everyone could benefit equally from standard probiotic treatments, the researchers said. [Don’t Be Fooled: 5 Probiotics Myths]
"This suggests that probiotics should not be universally given as a" single supplement, "said Eran Elinav, co-author of the study and immunologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. researchers, it is possible to adapt the probiotic treatments to the individual depending on the types of microbes already present in his gut, as well as other factors, so that he gets the most out of it benefits of probiotics.
In addition, a second study from the same group of researchers suggests that probiotics may have a potentially harmful effect if taken after antibiotics. Since both studies were small, further research is needed to confirm the results.
The study was published today (September 6) in the journal Cell.
Probiotic "resistance"
Probiotics are living bacteria that are consumed in order to enhance or maintain the microbiome, or the many "good" bacteria that are naturally found in our intestines, according to the Mayo Clinic.
A number of probiotic products are on the market, including yogurts containing probiotics, supplements and skin creams, and about 3.9 million Americans use these products. According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, some studies suggest that probiotics may help relieve diarrhea or symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
In addition, most of the studies that examined the effects of probiotics used participants' stool samples as an indicator of what is happening in their bowels. But it is unclear whether the stool samples actually reflect the bacteria living in the intestine, or whether some bacteria are more easily removed in the stool, perhaps without installing properly in the stool. intestine.
In the new study, researchers analyzed information from 15 healthy volunteers who took either a probiotic product containing 11 strains of bacteria or a placebo for four weeks. Participants also underwent colonoscopy and upper endoscopy before taking probiotics or placebo, and again after the four-week treatment period. (An upper endoscopy examines the upper part of the digestive tract.) During these procedures, the researchers took samples from the entrails of the participants.
The researchers found that probiotic bacteria could colonize the intestine in six participants. The others, however, were "resistant," meaning bacteria did not colonize their intestines, even though probiotic bacteria were excreted in their stools.
"Although all of our volunteers consuming probiotics have shown probiotics in their stool, only some of them have shown them in their intestines, where they must be," said Eran Segal, a computational biologist from the United States. Weizmann Institute. in the declaration. "If some people resist and only certain people allow it, the benefits of standard probiotics that we all take can not be as universal as we once thought."
After further analysis of the data, the researchers found that they could predict whether probiotics would take root in people's intestines by examining their microbiome and the expression of their genes in the intestines at the beginning of the study. However, this forecasting method needs to be confirmed in future studies. The researchers called for further research to better understand why some people resist colonization with probiotics, as future research may allow researchers to resist resistance.
Harmful effects?
In a separate study conducted with 21 healthy volunteers, also published today in Cell, the same group of researchers found that taking probiotics after a broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment could actually delay the return of the normal intestinal microbiome. This goes against the idea that probiotics can help to "repopulate" the intestinal bacteria of people who kill them.
"Contrary to the current dogma that probiotics are harmless and benefit everyone, these findings reveal a new potential adverse effect of using probiotics with antibiotics," Elinav said.
The discovery also highlighted the need for personalized probiotic treatments to protect people's intestinal health "without compromising the re-colonization of the microbiome" after antibiotics, the researchers said.
Dr. Arun Swaminath, director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program at Lenox Hill Hospital, who did not participate in the study, said these findings "raise concerns about whether or not probiotics delay … the return of [a] ecosystem of healthy bacteria after "a person takes some antibiotics.
However, if results are maintained in patients with specific medical conditions and exposure to different antibiotics, "remains to be seen," Swaminath told Live Science. "But it clearly shows that probiotics can have an undeserved status, the way they are currently considered in popular culture as being naturally and undeniably healthy."
The researchers also noted that they did not look at clinical outcomes, particularly that probiotics helped to reduce gastrointestinal symptoms.
Original article on Science live.
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