Pustaka Ilmiah Universitas Padjadjaran

Abstrak

Probiotics And Gut Health

Probiotics are live microorganisms that are able to reach the gastointestinal tract and alter its microfloral composition, producing beneficial health effects when consumed in adequate amounts. Recent clinical trials have evaluated the clinical effectiveness of probiotics in the treatment and prevention of wide range of acute and chronic gastrointestinal diseases, and also non gastrointestinal diseases. The gastointestinal microbiota plays an important role in host health due to its involvement in nutritional, immunologic and physiological functions. Microbial imbalances have been associated with enhanced risk of spesific diseases. The mechanism of action include the inhibition of pathogen growth by competition for nutritional sources and adhesion sites, secretion of antimicrobial substances, toxin inactivation. The well-characterized immunomodulatory potential of specific probiotics strains, beyond the effect on the composition of the microbiota, has been be used as innovative tools to alleviate intestinal inflammation, normalize gut mucosal dysfunction, and down regulate hypersensitivity reactions. Clinical efficacy of spesific probiotics strains has been demonstrated in, rotavirus’s diarrhea, antibiotic associated diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome and food allergies. Further, recent clinical and nutritional studies have encountered the function of specific strains in energy metabolism and thereby have opened up new angles on their exploitation.