The intestinal epithelium serves as an effective barrier against the external environment, hampering the passage of potentially harmful substances (such as pathogenic microbes) that could trigger an exacerbated host immune response. The integrity of this barrier is thus essential for the maintenance of proper intestinal homeostasis and efficient protective reactions against chemical and microbial challenges. The principal consequence of intestinal barrier defects is an increase in intestinal permeability, which leads to an increased influx of luminal stressors, such as pathogens, toxins, and allergens, which in turn trigger inflammation and immune response. The fine and fragile balance of intestinal homeostasis can be altered by multiple factors that regulate barrier function, many of which are poorly understood. This review will address the role of gut microbiota as well as food supplements (such as probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics) in modulating gut health and regulating intestinal barrier function. In particular, we will focus on three human pathologies: inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and food allergy.

• FA
• IBD
• IBS
• functional food
• prebiotics
• probiotics
• synbiotics

Food allergy is rising at an alarming rate and is a major public health concern. Globally, food allergy affects over 500 million people, often starting in early childhood and increasingly reported in adults. Commercially, only one approved oral immunotherapy-based treatment is currently available and other allergen-based immunotherapeutic are being investigated in clinical studies. As an alternative approach, a substantial amount of research has been conducted on natural compounds and probiotics, focusing on the immune modes of action, and therapeutic uses of such sources to tackle various immune-related diseases. Food allergy is primarily mediated by IgE antibodies and the suppression of allergic symptoms seems to be mostly modulated through a reduction of allergen-specific IgE antibodies, upregulation of blocking IgG, and downregulation of effector cell activation (e.g., mast cells) or expression of T-helper 2 (Th-2) cytokines. A wide variety of investigations conducted in small animal models or cell-based systems have reported on the efficacy of natural bioactive compounds and probiotics as potential anti-allergic therapeutics. However, very few lead compounds, unlike anti-cancer and anti-microbial applications, have been selected for clinical trials in the treatment of food allergies. Natural products or probiotic-based approaches appear to reduce the symptoms and/or target specific pathways independent of the implicated food allergen. This broad range therapeutic approach essentially provides a major advantage as several different types of food allergens can be targeted with one approach and potentially associated with a lower cost of development. This review provides a brief overview of the immune mechanisms underlying food allergy and allergen-specific immunotherapy, followed by a comprehensive collection of current studies conducted to investigate the therapeutic applications of natural compounds and probiotics, including discussions of their mode of action and immunological aspects of their disease-modifying capabilities.

• allergen
• food allergy
• gut microbiome
• immunotherapy
• medicinal plants
• natural compounds
• polysaccharides
• probiotics

The burden of disease of food allergy is increasing worldwide. The standard of management is allergen avoidance and symptomatic treatment. Probiotics have been proposed to be beneficial for treatment and prevention of food allergy.

To determine the effectiveness of probiotic administration in treating food allergies among pediatric patients.

A systematic search of electronic medical literature databases was conducted. Manual search of the reference lists and search for unpublished articles were also done. All randomized controlled trials available from inception until February 19, 2018 were retrieved. The primary outcome of interest was relief of allergic symptoms, while the secondary outcome of interest was inducement of tolerance. Two independent authors did the search, screening, appraisal, and data abstraction. Data analysis and synthesis were done using RevMan 5.3 software. Subgroup analysis was done based on the probiotic strains and time periods in measuring the outcome. Exclusion sensitivity analysis was also done.

Nine trials involving 895 pediatric patients with cow’s milk allergy (CMA) were included in the review. The primary outcome of interest, relief of symptoms, was measured using the scoring index for eczema. Pooled results from two studies showed larger reduction in the scoring index among patients given probiotics, but this effect was imprecise (MD -1.30, 95% CI -3.88, 1.28). For the secondary outcome of interest, pooled results from four studies showed benefit of probiotics in inducing tolerance, but again this result is imprecise with significant heterogeneity (RR 0.58, 95% CI 0.34, 1.00). Subgroup analysis per probiotic strain showed benefit of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG in inducing tolerance based on two studies involving infants with suspected cow’s milk allergy (RR = 0.41, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.62). Another subgroup analysis showed a duration-dependent effect associated with probiotic usage, with inducement of tolerance noted after at least 2 years (RR = 0.44, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.67).

Analysis of available evidence shows moderate certainty that the use of probiotics can relieve symptoms of children with cow’s milk allergy. The reduction in certainty is due to imprecise results. Moreover, there is low certainty that probiotics can induce tolerance among children with cow’s milk allergy, due to problems of imprecision and attrition bias. In the subgroup analysis, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG administration likely results in inducing tolerance among infants with suspected cow’s milk allergy. Only studies on CMA were analyzed since no studies were found on probiotics as treatment for other types of food allergy among children.

The online version of this article (10.1186/s40413-018-0204-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

• Food allergy
• Pediatrics
• Probiotics
• cow’s milk allergy

• Allergy
• atopic dermatitis
• eczema
• probiotic
• skin

• Atomic force microscopy
• Bifidobacterium
• Cancer
• Cell wall elasticity
• Cytokines
• Dietary biomarkers
• Fecal microbiota transplantation
• Gut microbiota
• Gut–brain axis
• Healthy diet
• Immune disorders
• Lactobacillus
• Macrophages
• Microbiome
• Nutrition
• Oxidative
• Pattern-recognition receptors
• Predictive
• and personalized medicine
• nitrosative stress
• preventive

Allergy is one of the most important and very common health problems worldwide. To reduce the proportion of people suffering from allergy, alternative methods of prevention and treatment are sought. The aim of this paper is to present the possibilities of probiotics in the prevention and treatment of allergic diseases.

Probiotics are live microorganisms belonging mainly to the lactic acid bacteria. They modify the microflora of the human digestive system, especially the intestinal microflora. Prophylactic administration of probiotics in the early stages of life (naturally in breast milk or milk substitute synthetic compounds) is very important because intestinal microflora plays a huge role in the development of the immune system. Prevention of allergies as early as in the prenatal and postnatal periods provides huge opportunities for inhibiting the growing problem of allergy in emerging and highly developed societies. Effects of probiotic therapy depend on many factors such as the species of the microorganism used, the dose size and characteristics of the bacteria such as viability and capacity of adhesion to the intestinal walls. Authors of several studies showed beneficial effects of probiotics in the perinatal period, infancy, and also in adults in the prevention of atopic dermatitis or allergic rhinitis.

Probiotics, due to their immunomodulatory properties and safety of use are a good, natural alternative for the prevention and treatment of many diseases including allergies. It is therefore important to explore the knowledge about their use and to carry out further clinical trials.

• allergy
• lactic acid bacteria
• probiotics

• food allergy
• probiotics
• allergic disease
• intestinal microbiota
• children

• Biomarkers/blood
• Child
• Evidence-Based Medicine
• Food Hypersensitivity/diet therapy
• Food Hypersensitivity/immunology
• Food Hypersensitivity/prevention & control
• Gastrointestinal Tract/immunology
• Gastrointestinal Tract/microbiology
• Humans
• Immunoglobulin E/blood
• Immunologic Factors/blood
• Probiotics/therapeutic use
• Treatment Outcome

• Disease management
• Health
• Infections
• Probiotics

To evaluate whether the addition of a probiotic could improve Helicobacter pylori (H.P.) eradication rates and reduce the side effects of treatment in children.

Between July 2008 and July 2011 all patients with a clinical, laboratory and endoscopic diagnosis of H.P. positive gastritis referred to our Unit were included in the study. Patients suffering from allergy to any of drugs used in the study, with previous attempts to eradicate H.P. and those who received antibiotics, PPIs or probiotics within 4 weeks were excluded from the present study. Patients were randomized into two therapy regimens (group A and B): both groups received standard triple treatment (omeprazole, amoxicillin and clarithromycin) while only group B patients were also given a probiotic (Probinul - Cadigroup). Patients compliance was evaluated at the end of the treatment. Successful eradication was defined as a negative 13 C-urea breath test (C13-ubt) result four weeks after therapy discontinuation.

A total of 68 histopathologically proven H.P.-infection children (32 male and 36 females) were included in the study. All of the patients in both groups used more than 90% of the therapies and no patients were lost at follow up. All side effects were selflimiting and disappeared once the therapy was terminated. Epigastric pain was observed in 6 (17.6%) group A vs 2 (5.8%) group B patients (P<0.05), nausea in 3 (8.8%) group A vs 1 (2.9%) group B patients (P<0.05); vomiting and diarrhea were observed in 2(5.8%) and 8 (23.5%) group A patients, respectively and never in group B (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of constipation (5.8% in group A and B). Four weeks after the completion of therapy, 56/68 patients (82.3%) tested negative for H.P. on C13-ubt. H.P. was eradicated in 26 patients (76.4%) in group A and in 30 patients (88.2%) in group B. There was no significantly difference in the rate of H.P. eradication between group A and group B (p=0.1), although the success rate for H.P. eradication was higher in group B than in group A.

The addition of a probiotic formula to triple therapy significantly decreased the frequency of epigastric pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

• Adolescent
• Animals
• Asthma/therapy
• Bifidobacterium/classification
• Bifidobacterium/growth & development
• Child
• Child, Preschool
• Dermatitis, Atopic/therapy
• Female
• Food Hypersensitivity/therapy
• Humans
• Hypersensitivity/therapy
• Lactobacillus/classification
• Lactobacillus/growth & development
• Mice
• Pregnancy
• Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/therapy
• Probiotics/therapeutic use
• Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
• Respiratory Tract Infections/therapy
• Rhinitis, Allergic
• Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial/therapy
• Treatment Outcome

• Animals
• Cattle
• Child
• Female
• Humans
• Immunoglobulin E/immunology
• Milk Hypersensitivity/immunology
• Milk Proteins/immunology
• Probiotics/pharmacology
• T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory/immunology

• Dermatitis, Atopic/prevention & control
• Humans
• Peer Review
• Periodicals as Topic
• Probiotics/therapeutic use
• Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

• Dermatitis, Atopic/diagnosis
• Dermatitis, Atopic/etiology
• Dermatitis, Atopic/therapy
• Food Hypersensitivity/complications
• Food Hypersensitivity/epidemiology
• Humans
• Interleukin-10/genetics
• Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
• Prevalence
• Risk Factors

AIM: To investigate the change in eukaryotic gene expression profile in Caco-2 cells after infection with strains of Escherichia coli and commensal probiotic bacteria.

METHODS: A 19200 gene/expressed sequence tag gene chip was used to examine expression of genes after infection of Caco-2 cells with strains of normal flora E. coli, Lactobacillus plantarum, and a combination of the two.

RESULTS: The cDNA microarray revealed up-regulation of 155 and down-regulation of 177 genes by E. coli. L. plantarum up-regulated 45 and down-regulated 36 genes. During mixed infection, 27 genes were up-regulated and 59 were down-regulated, with nullification of stimulatory/inhibitory effects on most of the genes. Expression of several new genes was noted in this group.

CONCLUSION: The commensal bacterial strains used in this study induced the expression of a large number of genes in colonocyte-like cultured cells and changed the expression of several genes involved in important cellular processes such as regulation of transcription, protein biosynthesis, metabolism, cell adhesion, ubiquitination, and apoptosis. Such changes induced by the presence of probiotic bacteria may shape the physiologic and pathologic responses they trigger in the host.

• Lactobacillus
• Escherichia coli
• Gene expression
• Probiotic
• cDNA microarray

• Abdominal Pain/drug therapy
• Abdominal Pain/physiopathology
• Adult
• Aged
• Dietary Supplements
• Double-Blind Method
• Dyspepsia/drug therapy
• Dyspepsia/physiopathology
• Female
• Gastrointestinal Diseases/complications
• Gastrointestinal Diseases/drug therapy
• Gastrointestinal Diseases/physiopathology
• Humans
• Indican/urine
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Pain Measurement
• Pilot Projects
• Plant Extracts/therapeutic use
• Probiotics/adverse effects
• Probiotics/therapeutic use
• Quality of Life

• Asthma/etiology
• Asthma/immunology
• Asthma/microbiology
• Asthma/prevention & control
• Dermatitis, Atopic/complications
• Dermatitis, Atopic/immunology
• Dermatitis, Atopic/microbiology
• Humans
• Probiotics/pharmacology
• Probiotics/therapeutic use

• Animals
• Digestive System Physiological Phenomena
• Food, Organic
• Gastrointestinal Diseases/immunology
• Gastrointestinal Diseases/prevention & control
• Gastrointestinal Neoplasms/prevention & control
• Humans
• Immune System/physiology
• Nutritional Physiological Phenomena
• Probiotics
• Yogurt

• Animals
• Bone Marrow Cells
• Cell Line
• Cytokines/metabolism
• Enterococcus faecalis/pathogenicity
• Escherichia coli/pathogenicity
• Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor/immunology
• Humans
• Interleukin-10/genetics
• JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/antagonists & inhibitors
• Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus/immunology
• Macrophage Activation
• Macrophages/immunology
• Macrophages/metabolism
• Macrophages, Peritoneal/immunology
• Mice
• Mice, Inbred C57BL
• Phosphorylation
• Probiotics/metabolism
• STAT3 Transcription Factor/metabolism
• Signal Transduction
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/biosynthesis
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/immunology
• p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism