Probiotics do not fulfill their role. In some cases, they can be harmful

Probiotics, considered by some to be a cure-all for all sorts of digestive ailments and recommended by many GPs for antibiotic treatment, may not be as beneficial to health as widely believed. They may require personalized formulation to be effective, and in some cases, they may even do harm.

The gut microbiome is the sum of all microorganismsoin those living in the human gut. It plays a huge role in maintaining good health and affects the functioning of the entire body. New research has shown that probiotics – usually taken as supplements or in foods such as yogurt or kefir – can impede the return ofot gut microbiome to normal after antibiotic treatment. Studies have shown roalso that rodifferent people respond to probiotics in radically different waysob.

In the journal „Cell” two publications have been published on the effects of probioticsoin using a probioticow. In the first articleow scientists describe the results of their study, in which theorych showed that taking probioticsow can impair the regeneration of the intestinal mucosa after antibiotic treatment.

Scientists conducted endoscopic and colonoscopic examinations on volunteers to collect probek and examine the microbiomeoin intestinal waspsob, ktore took antibiotics before and after consuming probioticsow. The second group received a probki their own microbiomeoIn intestinal specimens collected before ingestion of antibioticsow.

The researchers found that the microbiome of osob, whichore they took probiotics, they succumbed to the "very serious disorder". – When probiotics colonized the intestine, they completely inhibited the restoration of the local microbiome, whichory has been plantocony during antibiotic treatment,” said Eran Elinav, an immunologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and head of theoThe lead author of the study.

During the study, the disruption of gene expression was also notedow – process, in whichoin which the genetic information contained in genes is transcribed into proteins or rotrong forms of RNA. These effects persisted for six months. However, these negative effectsow has not been observed in a group of waspsob, whichore received the original microbiome collected before antibiotic useow. Their microbiome normalized within a few days.

A second study published in the „Cell” indicates that probiotics do not work in the same wayob on all. Here, endoscopic and colonoscopic studies have also been conducted taking probki of the bacterial flora of volunteerow. Volunteerow were divided into two groups. One received a preparation consisting of 11 strainsow very commonly used probiotic bacteria, while the other received a placebo.

– What we observed was very surprising,” said Elinav. It turned out that in most of the volunteersow probiotics had no effect on the composition of the gut microbiome. – We could divide people who take probiotics into two distinct groups: those whoora resisted their colonization and the other, in which theorej probiotics colonized the intestine and modified the composition of the intestinal microbiome and geneoin the host – added the scientist. In a group thatora took a placebo no effect was observedow.

– This mowi us that the current paradigm of a universal probiotic preparation should be replaced by a tailored therapy, whichora uses science, measurement and technology. With this tailored approach, probiotics are more likely to improve health – explains Elinav.

Experts say, however, that „tailored” Probiotic therapy can be difficult to implement due to the rather invasive research, whichore should be carried out. – One has to wonder about the usefulness of the common prointravascular. No one really wants this invasive procedure – said Bernard Corfe of the University of Sheffield, whoory did not participate in the study.

– People strongly support the use of probioticow, although the literature underlying our understanding of how they function is highly controversial. We wanted to determine whether probiotics, such as those thatore can be bought in the supermarket, they colonize the conduit of theod digestive system, as they should, and whether they have any effect on the human body – Elinav said.

– Contrary to the current dogma that probiotics are harmless and benefit everyone, the results of our study reveal a new, potentially adverse side effect of probiotic useow with antibiotics, whichory can bring long-term consequences – added the.