Fig. 1.

Schematic representation of antiadhesive properties of probiotics and prebiotics. (A) pathogens, probiotic and bacterial toxins adhere to cell surface oligosaccharides carried on glycolipids and glycoproteins; (B) prebiotic oligosaccharides, particularly galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) have some structural similarity to cell surface glycoproteins and are postulated to inhibit adhesion of toxins and pathogens to cells; (C) the adhesion of probiotic bacteria to cell surface receptors is postulated to inhibit adhesion of toxins and pathogens to those receptors