Probiotics: definition,scope and mechanisms of action |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Canadian Center for Human Microbiome and Probiotic Research, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada;2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada;1. Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tikva, Israel;2. Sackler Faculty of Medicine, University of Tel Aviv, Israel;1. Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, P.O. Box 7804, N-5020 Bergen, Norway;2. Department of Occupational Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, P.O. Box 1400, N-5021 Bergen, Norway;3. Wake Forest School of Medicine, Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Epidemiology & Prevention, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA;4. Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7445, USA;5. UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB# 7445, 404A Rosenau Hall, 421 Pittsboro Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7445, USA;1. Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel;2. Department of Gastroenterology, Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tikva, Israel;3. Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine at Chapel Hill, NC, USA |
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| Abstract: | For a subject area of science, medicine and commerce to be so recently defined and investigated, few can compare to probiotics for the controversy they have incited. Barely a paper is published without the use of a different definition, or challenging the most used one, or proposing a different nuance of it. The situation has become even more surreal with the European Food and Safety Authority banning the word probiotic for use on labels. The reiteration of the FAO/WHO definition by the world's leading group of probiotic experts, should provide relative consistency in the near future, but what are the causes of these aberrations? This review will discuss the rationale for the definition, and the scope of the subject area and why alternatives emerge. While mechanisms of action are not widely proven, in vitro and some in vivo experiments support several. Ultimately, the goal of any field or product is to be understood by lay people and experts alike. Probiotics have come a long way in 100 years since Metchnikoff and 10 years since their globalization, but their evolution is far from over. |
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| Keywords: | Probiotics Terminology Mechanisms Guidelines |
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