ABSTRACT Probiotics for preventing illness or improving health have become increasingly popular with consumers, researchers, and producers, both dairy companies and alternative medicine providers. They are widely available in foods such as yoghurt and as freeze dried capsules. They are used both for their general health effects on the gut including reducing travellers and antibiotic related diarrhoea. Their most important and best researched use is in the treatment of necrotising enterocolitis in premature babies where they reduce incidence, severity and mortality. The ultimate ‘probiotic’ mixture might be healthy human faeces which have been used for transplantation in patients with antibiotic resistant Clostridioides difficile infections with some success. Studies of allergy prevention using probiotics have shown mixed results. In New Zealand however, a specific strain of Lactobacillus rhamnosus (HN001) given from birth for two years has been shown to reduce the prevalence of allergic disease in infants throughout childhood. Further studies have shown a reduction in gestational diabetes amongst mothers who consume the probiotic during pregnancy. An important feature of the clinical use of probiotics is that different strains within the same species may have very different effects.

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人类益生菌：恶作剧、炒作、希望或帮助

摘要 用于预防疾病或改善健康的益生菌越来越受到消费者、研究人员和生产商的欢迎，包括乳制品公司和替代药物供应商。它们广泛存在于食品中，例如酸奶和冻干胶囊。它们用于对肠道的一般健康影响，包括减少旅行者和抗生素相关的腹泻。它们最重要和研究得最好的用途是治疗早产儿的坏死性小肠结肠炎，从而降低发病率、严重程度和死亡率。最终的“益生菌”混合物可能是健康的人类粪便，这些粪便已被用于移植到患有抗生素耐药性艰难梭菌感染的患者身上，并取得了一些成功。使用益生菌预防过敏的研究显示出不同的结果。然而，在新西兰，一种特定的鼠李糖乳杆菌 (HN001) 菌株从出生开始服用两年，已被证明可以降低婴儿整个儿童期过敏性疾病的患病率。进一步的研究表明，在怀孕期间服用益生菌的母亲患妊娠糖尿病的几率有所降低。益生菌临床使用的一个重要特点是同一物种内的不同菌株可能产生非常不同的作用。