USProbiotics.org

Probiotics In the News

Take some good bacteria and call me in the morning
Who'd have thought they'd hear that advice from their doctor?
Yet there's increasing evidence that probiotics in food and
nutritional supplements can help fight off the bad guys

NICOLE JOHNSTON

The Globe and Mail, Tuesday, January 16, 2001

If you want to be the picture of health, finish your bacteria -- words of wisdom you likely never heard from mom. But there's growing scientific evidence that suggests one way to ward off illness is to consume good bacteria, known as probiotics, to fight off the bad microbes for you. In other words, if you want to beat them -- eat them.

Seem preposterous? It isn't when you consider that our bodies are home to 100 trillion bacterial cells that outnumber the body's cells 10 to one. The human gut houses nearly 500 different species of microbes alone. These good bacteria, called the normal flora, live in relative harmony with each other.

But any insult that disrupts this balance can tip the scale in favour of conditions that allow one variety of microbe to grow like a house afire, while others get killed off. This is why diarrhea occasionally kicks in during a course of antibiotic therapy. As the antibiotic kills off or inhibits the offending bug, some of the good microbes in the gut also get walloped. Consequently, a diarrhea-causing type of bacteria that resides in the gut can overgrow, making us race for the washroom.

This is where probiotics, also called biotherapeutic agents, enter the picture. Probiotics are essentially live bacteria that are consumed as a nutritional supplement for their health-promoting benefits. They help maintain microbial balance and prevent other bugs from giving us grief. They come in either a pill-form, as a powder, or as a component of dairy products. The most common bacteria used are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. Antibiotics, on the other hand, are drugs that kill or inhibit bacteria.

"Probiotics provide an extra layer of strength," says Dr. Mary Ellen Sanders, a leading expert on probiotics at California Polytechnic State University, and a consultant for her company Dairy and Food Culture Technologies in Littleton, Colo.

They act the role of "soldiers in your intestinal tract to combat pathogens [disease-causing bacteria] that may be there." Furthermore, they improve the gut barrier by keeping the cells that line the gut healthy, she adds.

Nevertheless, consuming probiotics hasn't caught on well in North America. Despite being a multibillion dollar business in Europe and Asia, North Americans still haven't sunk their teeth into the idea of consuming beneficial bacteria.

The Japanese, for instance, drink to their intestinal health with a probiotic drink called Yakult, consumed by more than 24 million people daily. But some companies are trying their hand at the American market. In Denver, Colo., the Dannon Co., a major yogurt producer, is currently test-marketing a probiotic drink called Actimel. Another company, ConAgra, sells one of the best studied probiotic strains, Lactobacillus GG, in a capsule form called Culturelle.

In Canada, probiotic research is only carried out in a small number of labs.

Consuming microbes isn't so radical an idea, though. Yogurt and fermented foods have been around for thousands of years. But the idea of deliberately taking bacteria to boost your health was spawned a century ago by one forward-thinking Russian scientist. Elie Metchnikoff was struck by the long, healthy lives led by Bulgarian peasants, and reasoned that Lactobacillus contained in the fermented foods they ate was the answer.

In recent years, however, scientists have discovered that probiotics can be used to control lactose intolerance, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, diminish food allergy, reduce the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease, and give the immune system a beneficial boost. A number of studies have found that probiotics can even decrease the duration and severity of diarrheal disease.

Lactobacillus GG was found to be very effective at treating diarrhea in children caused by rotavirus -- for which antibiotics don't work.

And just recently, researchers at the Lawson Health Research Institute at the University of Western Ontario in London, have shown that probiotics can be used to successfully treat recurrent vaginal, urinary tract and bladder infections, as well as prevent wounds from becoming infected.

Dr. Gregor Reid, a microbiologist and associate director of the Lawson Health Research Institute, and Dr. Andrew Bruce, former chair of urology at the University of Toronto, have devised a mixture of two probiotic strains, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus fermentum RC-14 for treating these infections.

For 50-year-old motivational speaker Jane Boucher Arntz of Dayton, Ohio, four years of chronic bladder and yeast infections made life unbearable. "It wasn't like they came and went," she says. "The came and stayed. I had a constant feeling of being poisoned from head to toe."

During the four years she sought treatment, antibiotics failed to solve the problem, trips to numerous specialists resulted in recommendations that ran the gamut from having part of her colon removed, to taking male hormones -- even to seeing a psychiatrist.

With no remedy and $180,000 (U.S.) in expenses later, Ms. Boucher Arntz enrolled in a small clinical trial conducted by Dr. Reid and Dr. Bruce to study the effect of their probiotic mixture on urogenital infections.

Ms. Boucher Arntz drank the 3 millilitre probiotic cocktail twice a day, and within a week the chronic pain lessened. In the two years since the study, her infections have disappeared. She still takes the mixture daily to prevent a recurrence. "I had terrible pelvic pain," she recalls. "I don't have that any more. I have a life now."

Antibiotics, medications, illness, hormonal fluctuations, dietary changes, spermicides, vaginal microbicides and even sexual intercourse can throw off the normal flora, causing urogenital infections if the woman's own lactobacilli is killed off.

Six of the 10 women enrolled in the study saw their infections clear up within one week of drinking the cocktails. The findings are to published in the journal FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology.

With antibiotic resistance on the rise, probiotics can be a natural alternative -- even a useful addition to standard antibiotic therapy. "There's a population of women that will benefit from this -- no question," Dr. Reid says.

Putting these two lactobacilli strains to another test, research led by biochemist Dr. Jeffrey Howard, along with Dr. Reid and surgeon Dr. Bing Siang Gan, found that the RC-14 strain prevented infection of surgical wounds in rats. When Staphylococcus aureus (commonly known as staph) -- a notorious culprit in skin infections -- was added to a surgical implant and embedded under the skin, all nine rats became infected. But when they added staph plus Lactobacillus RC-14 (or a protein RC-14 secretes) to the implant, no infection occurred. These findings were presented in December at the American Society for Cell Biology meeting in San Francisco.

The ability of staph to stick to its target is necessary to set up infection. Compounds made by lactobacilli prevent the staph from doing that. "The compounds appear to compete for binding sites with Staphylococcus aureus," says Dr. Howard, not unlike people competing for seats on a subway train during rush hour. Essentially, the lactobacilli take up the seats while the staph bugs slip out the doors.

With multidrug-resistant staph looming in hospitals and the community, the results couldn't be more timely. "This one is potentially very big, as it opens up the possibility of an entire new paradigm in the treatment of infection," says Dr. Gan. Until now, treating infections has meant either boosting our defenses or targeting the offending microbe with antibiotics. But these findings show that we can interfere with the environment that is needed for the infection to proceed, he says.

But buyer, beware. If you thought all lactobacilli or other microbes were created equal -- think again. Like some natural supplements on the market, some probiotics on the market amount to little more than snake oil. While most manufacturers put "viability counts" (meaning the number of live organisms present) on their labels, testing in independent labs has found that the numbers often come up short of what's claimed, says Dr. Sanders. Other microbes have even been detected. And grocery-store yogurt comes up short as well -- it has no where near the number needed to produce a therapeutic effect. Only seven strains of lactobacilli have scientific data to support their health claims, says Dr. Reid.

Before buying a particular supplement, contact the company and ask them if they have clinical data on the particular strain contained in their product, and not lactobacilli in general. To reap a health benefit, "the customer has to ask questions first," he advises. Nicole Johnston is a science writer and PhD student in biochemistry at McMaster University in Hamilton.

What to look for when buying probiotics

Probiotics can be readily purchased in the refrigerated section of health food and larger grocery stores. Unfortunately, many probiotics on the market are made up of organisms that lack any scientific data indicating they actually work. Simply seeing the words "Acidophilus" and "Bifidobacterium" on the label doesn't mean you're getting the real deal when it comes to reaping a genuine health benefit.

Yogurt is not a probiotic unless it has probiotic strains of proven effectiveness added to it after production.

Since probiotics can be rather pricey, do your homework before you buy:

First, find out what strain(s) the probiotic contains -- many product labels lack that information. "Product which simply name Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, or other species of bacteria -- without a strain number -- could be anything," says microbiologist Dr. Gregor Reid, an expert on probiotics at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont.

By stating a specific strain on the label, the company is showing some commitment to making a standardized and effective product.

However, looking for strain identification on the label can be challenging for the consumer because the company may use numbers, letters or another name to indicate the strain. But as a general rule, the bacteria is in italics and the strain is printed in regular type.

It might also be helpful to check the company's Web site or contact the manufacturer directly to find out what strains are included and what scientific data support the product.

The most extensively studied probiotic on the market is Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (GG is the strain) also known as Lactobacillus GG, said Dr. Denis Roy, research scientist with the Food Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. It's sold as dairy product or in freeze-dried capsules. Institut Rosell-Lallemand in Montreal can be contacted to obtain Lactobacillus GG, Dr. Roy said.

	SEARCH
Probiotics, probiotic research and probiotic foods are fast growing topics as consumer awareness continues to increase. The USprobiotics.org site is a comprehensive, up-to-date resource on probiotic reseach and development and the consumer health benefits of probiotics in the United States as well as a reference for global probiotic activities. This site will give consumers, healthcare professionals and industry professionals a good background on the world of probiotics – what they are, what we know about them, and what to consider for commercial and personal use. Webcast Probiotics: Applications in Gastrointestinal Health & Disease Presented in conjunction with the American College of Gastroenterology’s 72nd Annual Scientific Meeting held October 16, 2007 Program Proceedings (PDF) Program made possible through an unrestricted educational grant provided by The Dannon Company, Inc. and Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd.	Probiotics In the News Take some good bacteria and call me in the morning Who'd have thought they'd hear that advice from their doctor? Yet there's increasing evidence that probiotics in food and nutritional supplements can help fight off the bad guys NICOLE JOHNSTON The Globe and Mail, Tuesday, January 16, 2001 If you want to be the picture of health, finish your bacteria -- words of wisdom you likely never heard from mom. But there's growing scientific evidence that suggests one way to ward off illness is to consume good bacteria, known as probiotics, to fight off the bad microbes for you. In other words, if you want to beat them -- eat them. Seem preposterous? It isn't when you consider that our bodies are home to 100 trillion bacterial cells that outnumber the body's cells 10 to one. The human gut houses nearly 500 different species of microbes alone. These good bacteria, called the normal flora, live in relative harmony with each other. But any insult that disrupts this balance can tip the scale in favour of conditions that allow one variety of microbe to grow like a house afire, while others get killed off. This is why diarrhea occasionally kicks in during a course of antibiotic therapy. As the antibiotic kills off or inhibits the offending bug, some of the good microbes in the gut also get walloped. Consequently, a diarrhea-causing type of bacteria that resides in the gut can overgrow, making us race for the washroom. This is where probiotics, also called biotherapeutic agents, enter the picture. Probiotics are essentially live bacteria that are consumed as a nutritional supplement for their health-promoting benefits. They help maintain microbial balance and prevent other bugs from giving us grief. They come in either a pill-form, as a powder, or as a component of dairy products. The most common bacteria used are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. Antibiotics, on the other hand, are drugs that kill or inhibit bacteria. "Probiotics provide an extra layer of strength," says Dr. Mary Ellen Sanders, a leading expert on probiotics at California Polytechnic State University, and a consultant for her company Dairy and Food Culture Technologies in Littleton, Colo. They act the role of "soldiers in your intestinal tract to combat pathogens [disease-causing bacteria] that may be there." Furthermore, they improve the gut barrier by keeping the cells that line the gut healthy, she adds. Nevertheless, consuming probiotics hasn't caught on well in North America. Despite being a multibillion dollar business in Europe and Asia, North Americans still haven't sunk their teeth into the idea of consuming beneficial bacteria. The Japanese, for instance, drink to their intestinal health with a probiotic drink called Yakult, consumed by more than 24 million people daily. But some companies are trying their hand at the American market. In Denver, Colo., the Dannon Co., a major yogurt producer, is currently test-marketing a probiotic drink called Actimel. Another company, ConAgra, sells one of the best studied probiotic strains, Lactobacillus GG, in a capsule form called Culturelle. In Canada, probiotic research is only carried out in a small number of labs. Consuming microbes isn't so radical an idea, though. Yogurt and fermented foods have been around for thousands of years. But the idea of deliberately taking bacteria to boost your health was spawned a century ago by one forward-thinking Russian scientist. Elie Metchnikoff was struck by the long, healthy lives led by Bulgarian peasants, and reasoned that Lactobacillus contained in the fermented foods they ate was the answer. In recent years, however, scientists have discovered that probiotics can be used to control lactose intolerance, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, diminish food allergy, reduce the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease, and give the immune system a beneficial boost. A number of studies have found that probiotics can even decrease the duration and severity of diarrheal disease. Lactobacillus GG was found to be very effective at treating diarrhea in children caused by rotavirus -- for which antibiotics don't work. And just recently, researchers at the Lawson Health Research Institute at the University of Western Ontario in London, have shown that probiotics can be used to successfully treat recurrent vaginal, urinary tract and bladder infections, as well as prevent wounds from becoming infected. Dr. Gregor Reid, a microbiologist and associate director of the Lawson Health Research Institute, and Dr. Andrew Bruce, former chair of urology at the University of Toronto, have devised a mixture of two probiotic strains, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus fermentum RC-14 for treating these infections. For 50-year-old motivational speaker Jane Boucher Arntz of Dayton, Ohio, four years of chronic bladder and yeast infections made life unbearable. "It wasn't like they came and went," she says. "The came and stayed. I had a constant feeling of being poisoned from head to toe." During the four years she sought treatment, antibiotics failed to solve the problem, trips to numerous specialists resulted in recommendations that ran the gamut from having part of her colon removed, to taking male hormones -- even to seeing a psychiatrist. With no remedy and $180,000 (U.S.) in expenses later, Ms. Boucher Arntz enrolled in a small clinical trial conducted by Dr. Reid and Dr. Bruce to study the effect of their probiotic mixture on urogenital infections. Ms. Boucher Arntz drank the 3 millilitre probiotic cocktail twice a day, and within a week the chronic pain lessened. In the two years since the study, her infections have disappeared. She still takes the mixture daily to prevent a recurrence. "I had terrible pelvic pain," she recalls. "I don't have that any more. I have a life now." Antibiotics, medications, illness, hormonal fluctuations, dietary changes, spermicides, vaginal microbicides and even sexual intercourse can throw off the normal flora, causing urogenital infections if the woman's own lactobacilli is killed off. Six of the 10 women enrolled in the study saw their infections clear up within one week of drinking the cocktails. The findings are to published in the journal FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology. With antibiotic resistance on the rise, probiotics can be a natural alternative -- even a useful addition to standard antibiotic therapy. "There's a population of women that will benefit from this -- no question," Dr. Reid says. Putting these two lactobacilli strains to another test, research led by biochemist Dr. Jeffrey Howard, along with Dr. Reid and surgeon Dr. Bing Siang Gan, found that the RC-14 strain prevented infection of surgical wounds in rats. When Staphylococcus aureus (commonly known as staph) -- a notorious culprit in skin infections -- was added to a surgical implant and embedded under the skin, all nine rats became infected. But when they added staph plus Lactobacillus RC-14 (or a protein RC-14 secretes) to the implant, no infection occurred. These findings were presented in December at the American Society for Cell Biology meeting in San Francisco. The ability of staph to stick to its target is necessary to set up infection. Compounds made by lactobacilli prevent the staph from doing that. "The compounds appear to compete for binding sites with Staphylococcus aureus," says Dr. Howard, not unlike people competing for seats on a subway train during rush hour. Essentially, the lactobacilli take up the seats while the staph bugs slip out the doors. With multidrug-resistant staph looming in hospitals and the community, the results couldn't be more timely. "This one is potentially very big, as it opens up the possibility of an entire new paradigm in the treatment of infection," says Dr. Gan. Until now, treating infections has meant either boosting our defenses or targeting the offending microbe with antibiotics. But these findings show that we can interfere with the environment that is needed for the infection to proceed, he says. But buyer, beware. If you thought all lactobacilli or other microbes were created equal -- think again. Like some natural supplements on the market, some probiotics on the market amount to little more than snake oil. While most manufacturers put "viability counts" (meaning the number of live organisms present) on their labels, testing in independent labs has found that the numbers often come up short of what's claimed, says Dr. Sanders. Other microbes have even been detected. And grocery-store yogurt comes up short as well -- it has no where near the number needed to produce a therapeutic effect. Only seven strains of lactobacilli have scientific data to support their health claims, says Dr. Reid. Before buying a particular supplement, contact the company and ask them if they have clinical data on the particular strain contained in their product, and not lactobacilli in general. To reap a health benefit, "the customer has to ask questions first," he advises. Nicole Johnston is a science writer and PhD student in biochemistry at McMaster University in Hamilton. What to look for when buying probiotics Probiotics can be readily purchased in the refrigerated section of health food and larger grocery stores. Unfortunately, many probiotics on the market are made up of organisms that lack any scientific data indicating they actually work. Simply seeing the words "Acidophilus" and "Bifidobacterium" on the label doesn't mean you're getting the real deal when it comes to reaping a genuine health benefit. Yogurt is not a probiotic unless it has probiotic strains of proven effectiveness added to it after production. Since probiotics can be rather pricey, do your homework before you buy: First, find out what strain(s) the probiotic contains -- many product labels lack that information. "Product which simply name Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, or other species of bacteria -- without a strain number -- could be anything," says microbiologist Dr. Gregor Reid, an expert on probiotics at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont. By stating a specific strain on the label, the company is showing some commitment to making a standardized and effective product. However, looking for strain identification on the label can be challenging for the consumer because the company may use numbers, letters or another name to indicate the strain. But as a general rule, the bacteria is in italics and the strain is printed in regular type. It might also be helpful to check the company's Web site or contact the manufacturer directly to find out what strains are included and what scientific data support the product. The most extensively studied probiotic on the market is Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (GG is the strain) also known as Lactobacillus GG, said Dr. Denis Roy, research scientist with the Food Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. It's sold as dairy product or in freeze-dried capsules. Institut Rosell-Lallemand in Montreal can be contacted to obtain Lactobacillus GG, Dr. Roy said.