Table 2.
Main medical/clinical benefits of the major pharmaceutical probiotic products for human purposes.
| Probiotic | Medical/clinical benefits |
|---|---|
| Probio-Tec®a | Relieves constipation (50–54) |
| Improves fecal properties and microbiota (51) | |
| Has positive effects against acute diarrhea (52) | |
| May have an effect on the gastrointestinal system (53) | |
| Reduces antibiotic-associated diarrhea (54) | |
| Enhances the intestinal antibody response in formula-fed infants (53) | |
| Culturelle® | Prevents rotavirus-related diarrhea in children (55–57) |
| Gastrointestinal disorders in childhood (58–60) | |
| Reduces the risk of respiratory tract infections in children (61–63) | |
| Useful in the prevention of atopic dermatitis in children at high risk of allergy (64, 65) | |
| Enterogermina® | Reduces adverse effects and increases tolerability of Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy (66, 67) |
| Allergic rhinitis in children (pilot studies) (68) | |
| Florastor® | Acute diarrhea (53, 69, 70) |
| Recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (71, 72) | |
| Antibiotic-associated diarrhea (73–75) | |
| Travelers’ diarrhea (76) | |
| Inflammatory bowel disease (77–79) | |
| Irritable bowel syndrome (76) | |
| HIV/AIDS-associated diarrhea (76, 80) | |
| Reduction of side effects of H. pylori treatment (76, 81, 82) | |
| Miyarisan® | Antibiotic-associated diarrhea (83) |
| Reduction of side effects of H. pylori treatment (84) | |
| Mutaflor® | Inflammatory bowel disease (85–87) |
| Acute diarrhea (88, 89) | |
| Chronic constipation (90) | |
| Irritable bowel syndrome (91, 92) | |
| VSL#3® | Inflammatory bowel disease (93, 94) |
| Pouchitis (95, 96) | |
| Irritable bowel syndrome (97) |
a Many of the positive effects of BB-12 were observed when it was combined with prebiotic formula and/or other probiotic bacteria, especially L. rhamnosus LGG, L. acidophilus LA-5, L. casei 431, L. paracasei subsp. paracasei F19, L. bulgaricus LBY-27, and S. thermophilus STY-31.