An expert panel was convened in October 2013 by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) to discuss the field of probiotics. It is now 13 years since the definition of probiotics and 12 years after guidelines were published for regulators, scientists and industry by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the WHO (FAO/WHO). The FAO/WHO definition of a probiotic--"live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host"--was reinforced as relevant and sufficiently accommodating for current and anticipated applications. However, inconsistencies between the FAO/WHO Expert Consultation Report and the FAO/WHO Guidelines were clarified to take into account advances in science and applications. A more precise use of the term 'probiotic' will be useful to guide clinicians and consumers in differentiating the diverse products on the market. This document represents the conclusions of the ISAPP consensus meeting on the appropriate use and scope of the term probiotic.

/pdf/expert-consensus-document-the-international-scientific-1zd5d1fmxy.pdf

Expert consensus document. The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics consensus statement on the scope and appropriate use of the term probiotic

There is good evidence that the complex microbial flora present in the gastrointestinal tract of all warm-blooded animals is effective in providing resistance to disease. However, the composition of this protective flora can be altered by dietary and environmental influences, making the host animal susceptible to disease and/or reducing its efficiency of food utilization. What we are doing with the probiotic treatments is re-establishing the natural condition which exists in the wild animal but which has been disrupted by modern trends in conditions used for rearing young animals, including human babies, and in modern approaches to nutrition and disease therapy. These are all areas where the gut flora can be altered for the worse and where, by the administration of probiotics, the natural balance of the gut microflora can be restored and the animal returned to its normal nutrition, growth and health status.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2672.1989.tb05105.x

Probiotics in man and animals

Diet and nutritional status are among the most important modifiable determinants of human health. The nutritional value of food is influenced in part by a person's gut microbial community (microbiota) and its component genes (microbiome). Unraveling the interrelations among diet, the structure and operations of the gut microbiota, and nutrient and energy harvest is confounded by variations in human environmental exposures, microbial ecology, and genotype. To help overcome these problems, we created a well-defined, representative animal model of the human gut ecosystem by transplanting fresh or frozen adult human fecal microbial communities into germ-free C57BL/6J mice. Culture-independent metagenomic analysis of the temporal, spatial, and intergenerational patterns of bacterial colonization showed that these humanized mice were stably and heritably colonized and reproduced much of the bacterial diversity of the donor's microbiota. Switching from a low-fat, plant polysaccharide-rich diet to a high-fat, high-sugar "Western" diet shifted the structure of the microbiota within a single day, changed the representation of metabolic pathways in the microbiome, and altered microbiome gene expression. Reciprocal transplants involving various combinations of donor and recipient diets revealed that colonization history influences the initial structure of the microbial community but that these effects can be rapidly altered by diet. Humanized mice fed the Western diet have increased adiposity; this trait is transmissible via microbiota transplantation. Humanized gnotobiotic mice will be useful for conducting proof-of-principle "clinical trials" that test the effects of environmental and genetic factors on the gut microbiota and host physiology. Nearly full-length 16S rRNA gene sequences are deposited in GenBank under the accession numbers GQ491120 to GQ493997.

/pdf/the-effect-of-diet-on-the-human-gut-microbiome-a-metagenomic-2p3fb72cp3.pdf

The Effect of Diet on the Human Gut Microbiome: A Metagenomic Analysis in Humanized Gnotobiotic Mice

Probiotics in primary prevention of atopic disease: a randomised placebo-controlled trial

Probotics have been with us for as long as people have eaten fermented milks, but their association with health benefits dates only from the turn of the century when Metchnikoff drew attention to the adverse effects of the gut microflora on the host and suggested that ingestion of fermented milks ameliorated this so called autointoxication. Later work, based on the assumption that colonisation of the gut was essential for the maximum effect, used intestinal strains ofLactobacillus acidophilus for treatment ofconstipation.1 The use of the term 'probiotic' to describe food supplements specifically designed to improve health, however, dates from 1974 when Parker used it to describe growth promoting animal feed supplements. He defined the term as 'organisms and substances which contribute to intestinal microbial balance'. I have recently2 revised this definition to read, 'A live microbial feed supplement which beneficially affects the host animal by improving its microbial balance'. This definition stresses the importance of viability and avoids the use of the too broad term 'substances' which could even include antibiotics. This report uses the revised definition and considers the evidence for the effect of live preparations on the human host. It also presents some evidence from work with animals which is helpful in understanding the potential benefits of this sort of treatment.

https://gut.bmj.com/content/gutjnl/32/4/439.full.pdf

Probiotics in human medicine.

History and development of probiotics bacterial interactions in the gut metabolic interactions in the gut translocation and the indigenous gut flora gut flora and disease resistance factors affecting the microecology of the gut probiotics and the immune state genetic manipulation of gut micro-organisms selection of strains for probiotic use probiotics for chickens probiotics for pigs probiotics for ruminants probiotics for humans problems and prospects.

R. Fuller

Papers

Probiotics in man and animals

Probiotics in man and animals

Probiotics in human medicine.

Probiotics : the scientific basis

Prebiotics, probiotics and human gut microbiology