Priobiotics, Intestinal Integrity, and Health

More evidence for the importance of the proper intestinal bacteria, and possible utility of probiotics. Abstract:

Intestinal barrier integrity is a prerequisite for homeostasis of mucosal function, which is balanced to maximise absorptive capacity, while maintaining efficient defensive reactions against chemical and microbial challenges. Evidence is mounting that disruption of epithelial barrier integrity is one of the major aetiological factors associated with several gastrointestinal diseases, including infection by pathogens, obesity and diabetes, necrotising enterocolitis, irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease. The notion that specific probiotic bacterial strains can affect barrier integrity fuelled research in which in vitro cell lines, animal models and clinical trials are used to assess whether probiotics can revert the diseased state back to homeostasis and health. This review catalogues and categorises the lines of evidence available in literature for the role of probiotics in epithelial integrity and, consequently, their beneficial effect for the reduction of gastrointestinal disease symptoms.

Note that disruption of the integrity of the intestinal epithelium (in layman’s terms: lining of the gut) is associated with a wide variety of important diseases, and that probiotics can enhance that integrity and reduce symptoms of gastrointestinal disease. The paper discusses various mechanisms whereby “good bacteria” help fight against “bad bacteria” and in so doing reduce inflammation and help maintain the proper structure of the intestines, hence helping reduce disease. The good bacteria occupy space and use nutrients that otherwise could be exploited by the bad bacteria, the good bacteria can secrete molecules that are toxic to the bad bacteria, and the good bacteria can help stimulate immune responses that target the bad bacteria. One home measure that I and people in my immediate family do is to make sure we eat yogurt with active cultures when we are on antibiotics, and after the antibiotic course is finished, to make sure the proper intestinal bacteria are being replenished as they are being killed, as a side effect, by the antibiotics. The aim is to inhibit colonization of the guy by the bad bacteria, especially once the antibiotic course is finished, by making sure that enough of the “good guys” are present. Of course, consult with your physician before doing this yourself and be aware that some antibiotics should not be taken with dairy products (and of course, be aware if you are lactose intolerant – although many intolerant individuals can tolerate yogurt, or have a dairy allergy). We usually eat yogurt anyway, so doing so in this case is nothing unusual.