The role of probiotics in paediatrics

Abstract 

The recent demonstration that the gut microbiota, and by the same token probiotics, have a strong impact in priming major maturation processes in the intestine's mucosal barrier has opened up new angles to the science of nutrition. In modulating specific target functions in the gut and the immune system, probiotics in the diet may exert additional beneficial physiological effects beyond the nutritional impact of food. Probiotic bacteria are living microbial food ingredients which have a beneficial effect on human health. These effects are attributed to the normal restoration of increased intestinal permeability and unbalanced gut microbiota, improvement of the intestine's immunological barrier functions and alleviation of the intestinal inflammatory response. The application of probiotics in paediatric practice currently lies in enhancing these barrier functions in the gut and reducing the risk of diseases associated with their dysfunction. The most fully documented probiotic intervention is the treatment and prevention of acute infectious diarrhoea. Recent clinical and nutritional studies and characterisation of the immunomodulatory potential of specific probiotic strains have attracted active research interest also in allergic and inflammatory diseases.

Keywords:  Atopy, Diarrhoea, Food allergy, Infant, Microbiota, Probiotics