Table 4.

Examples of potential future probiotics suggested for human use and/or assessed as novel foods in the European Union.

Bacteria species/strain	Safety assessment in European Union	Expected impact on humans	Effects (in vitro)	Effects (in vivo)	References
Clostridium butyricum/ Clostridium butyricum MIYAIRI 588 Clostridium butyricum CGMCC0313.1	Yes	Probiotic effects suggested based on Japanese studies	Butyrate production Antitumor effect Reduction on lipogenesis	SCFAs production Prevention of antibiotic-associated diarrhea (combined with Bifidobacterium) Protective effect on gastric ulcers Modulation of lipid profile, insulin resistance and colon homeostasis	Nakanishi et al., 2003; Shinnoh et al., 2013; Zhao et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2015; Shang et al., 2016
Bacteroides xylanisolvens/ Bacteroides xylanisolvens DSM 23964 Bacteroides xylanisolvens XB1A	Yes, but only in the pasteurized form without any viable microbes in the product	Immune protection effects suggested	Dietary fiber degradation and fermentation	Immune modulation Toxicity and safety assessment Tolerance to a regular oral intake assessment	Mirande et al., 2010; Ulsemer et al., 2012a,b,c, 2016; Li et al., 2016
Akkermansia muciniphila	Potential evaluation models suggested Novel—no EFSA evaluation available yet	Weight control, control of low-grade inflammation and prevention of type 2 diabetes	Adherence to the intestinal mucosa and effect on enterocytes	Improvement of glucose tolerance and attenuation of adipose tissue inflammation Reduction of fat-mass gain Regulation of gut inflammation, gut barrier, and gut peptide secretion Reduction of metabolic endotoxemia Attenuation of atherosclerotic lesions	Donohue and Salminen, 1996; Everard et al., 2013; Reunanen et al., 2015; Schneeberger et al., 2015; Li et al., 2016; Yassour et al., 2016
Fructophilic lactic acid bacteria: Lactobacillus kunkeei Fructobacillus fructosus Lactobacillus florum	Novel—no evaluation available	Selective fermentation of fructose Production of antibacterial compounds	Antibacterial activity Fructophilic properties	Reduction of microbial pathogens	Endo et al., 2009, 2010; Endo, 2012; Endo and Salminen, 2013
Faecalibacterium prausnitzii/ Faecalibacterium prausnitzii A2-165	Novel—no evaluation available	Beneficial anti-inflammatory effects suggested Butyric acid production	Production of anti-inflammatory compounds Inhibition of IL-17 release in human monocytes Butyrate production	Increase of plasma anti-Th17 cytokines and suppression of IL-17 levels in both plasma and colonic mucosa Normalization of altered colonic permeability Protective effect against colitis	Miquel et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2013; Laval et al., 2015; Ulluwishewa et al., 2015; Quevrain et al., 2016

The table includes some selected examples of reported positive health effects based on in vitro and in vivo studies.