Probiotic News and Research

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Probiotics are live microorganisms thought to be healthy for the host organism. According to the currently adopted definition by FAO/WHO, probiotics are: "Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host".

Major Progress in Next-Gen Probiotic Development

One of the beneficial gut bacteria found in the human gut that ordinarily cannot thrive in an oxygen-rich environment can now be made oxygen-tolerant. This is an important result in the development of future probiotic treatments to enhance glucose management in people with prediabetes.

3 Aug 2023

Gut Microbes Could Be Harnessed to Block Mercury Absorption

New research by a team at Pennsylvania State University suggests that microbes in the human gut could be harnessed to block absorption of toxic metals like mercury and help the body absorb useful nutritional ones, like iron.

5 Jul 2023

Probiotic Bacteria may Help Maintain Brain Function in Aging Nematodes

A group from Nagoya University in Japan has discovered that when the diet of nematodes, tiny worms measuring about a millimeter or less in length, includes the bacteria Lactobacillus reuteri, the weakening of associative learning ability caused by aging does not occur.

28 Jun 2023

New Oral Probiotic Delivery System Keeps “Good” Bacteria Safe

Probiotics can help maintain a healthy gut microbiome or rebuild populations of “good bacteria” following an antibiotic course. They may now be utilized as a viable treatment strategy for certain intestinal diseases like Crohn’s disease.

22 Jun 2023

Breeding Bacteria-Free Salmon Fry

Researchers, including from NTNU, are breeding bacteria-free fish fry. This pursuit is more important than you might think.

2 May 2023

Bacterial Probiotic for Treating and Preventing Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease Discovered

Researchers with the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History have discovered the first effective bacterial probiotic for treating and preventing stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD), a mysterious ailment that has devastated Florida's coral reefs since 2014 and is rapidly spreading throughout the Caribbean.

6 Apr 2023

Role of Engineered E. coli in Sending Therapeutic Nanobodies to the Gut

Numerous bacterium types have taken up residence in humans. Currently, research is concentrated on genetically modifying these bacteria to increase their inherent therapeutic qualities.

5 Apr 2023

Using Purified Curcumin to Create Probiotic Yogurt that Contains No Artificial Preservatives

Researchers have succeeded for the first time in adding a highly purified form of curcumin to yogurt in a way that ensures it remains dissolved in the dairy product and preserves it, while tasting good.

4 Apr 2023

Using better probiotics to maintain a healthy gut microbiome

Bacteria have thousands of genes and functions that we, the human host, do not have. For instance, bacteria can help us digest fiber, provide support to our immune systems, and absorb important nutrients. But reaping the benefits of "good bacteria" is easier said than done.

29 Mar 2023

T cell-driven changes in the gut may affect brain function associated with depression

In experiments with mice and humans, a team led by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers says it has identified a particular intestinal immune cell that impacts the gut microbiome, which in turn may affect brain functions linked to stress-induced disorders such as depression.

21 Mar 2023

Novel mechanism by which bacteria colonize the gut identified

A new mechanism by which “good” bacteria colonize the gut was unraveled by scientists at Yale University. The finding could aid spur the development of new probiotic therapies.

20 Mar 2023

Bile salt hydrolase cocktails may offer a new approach to inhibit C. diff colonization

Not all probiotics are created equal. In a new study, researchers found that certain enzymes within a class known as bile salt hydrolases (BSHs) can restrict Clostridioides difficile (C. diff.) colonization by both altering existing bile acids and by creating a new class of bile acids within the gut's microbial environment.

14 Mar 2023

“Bacterial suicide squad” recruits and activates innate and adaptive antitumor immune responses

Combining discoveries in cancer immunology with sophisticated genetic engineering, Columbia University researchers have created a sort of "bacterial suicide squad" that targets tumors, attracting the host's own immune cells to the cancer to destroy it. The new work, published today in Science Advances, marks a major step forward in efforts to enlist non-pathogenic bacteria to combat cancer.

9 Mar 2023

Probiotic application shown to promote health and growth of piglets

This study is led by Prof. Heping Zhang (Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University).

20 Feb 2023

Role of probiotics and functional materials in the treatment of intestinal inflammation

Maintenance of sulfomucin is a key end point in the treatment of diarrhea and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, the mechanism underlying the microbial sense to sulfomucin are poorly understood, and to date, there are no therapies targeting the secretion and maturation of sulfomucin in IBD. Considering the important role of gut microbiota in host immune regulation, maintain sulfomucin by modulating the gut microbiota is inspired.

20 Feb 2023

Substituting meat for mycoprotein reduces intestinal genotoxins, increases healthy gut bacteria

Researchers from Northumbria University have found that swapping red and processed meat for Quorn's mycoprotein, a fungi-based meat alternative, leads to a significant reduction in intestinal genotoxins - which can cause bowel cancer - and increases healthy gut bacteria.

17 Feb 2023

Stress hormones produced by salmon could be leading to increased infections

Fish farming is a crucial industry in Norway, and salmon is by far the most important species. So it's alarming that bacterial diseases are on the rise at the massive sea farms where salmon are raised.

7 Dec 2022

Acute infection disrupts the healthy balance between the good and bad gut microbes

Rutgers researchers examined the impact of COVID-19 on patients’ microbiomes, the group of microbes that live in and on the human body.

From Rutgers University 30 Nov 2022

Microbiome manipulation to prevent and cure diseases

Tagbo Niepa, assistant professor of chemical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, is inspired by this possibility in his research. His work on using the microbiome to enhance human health was recognized with a $2 million New Innovator Award from the National Institutes of Health, which funds “exceptionally creative scientists proposing high-risk, high-impact research.”

From University of Pittsburgh 5 Oct 2022

Probiotics do not enhance unhealthy vaginal health, recent study shows

Several factors, such as the type of bacteria that naturally colonize the reproductive tract, can influence pregnancy chances in IVF. “Good” bacteria in the form of probiotics are gaining popularity in the treatment of vaginal microbiota imbalances in women.

5 Jul 2022