Table 1.
Effects of probiotics on respiratory diseases.
| Effect | Methodology | Probiotic(s)/Prebiotic(s) | Dose/Duration | Authors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reducing the number of pulmonary exacerbations in cystic fibrosis population with no evidence of harm | Systematic review | *Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, *Lactobacillus reuteri, Lactobacillus spp., Bifidobacterium ssp. | 108 to 6 × 109 CFU/d Duration: 1 to 6 months |
Anderson et al. (2017) |
| Increases in the proportions of total, helper (CD4+), and activated (CD25+) T lymphocytes and natural killer cells in the blood after consumption | Clinical trial with thirty healthy elderly volunteers | Bifidobacterium lactis HN019 | 5 × 109 to 5 × 1010 CFU/d Duration: 3 weeks |
Gill et al. (2001) |
| The results indicate that probiotic use saved 573,000–2.3 million with AURTI | Microsimulation model was developed to reproduce the Canadian population (sample rate of 1/1000 = 35 540 individuals) | Not specified | Not specified | Lenoir-Wijnkoop et al. (2016) |
| Prophylactic synbiotics could modulate the gut microbiota and environment and may have preventive effects on VAP in patients with sepsis | Clinical trial. Seventy-two patients; 35 patients received synbiotics and 37 patients did not receive synbiotics. | Bifidobacterium breve strain Yakult, *Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota, and GOS | 1 × 108 CFU/d of probiotics GOS (10 g/day) |
Shimizu et al. (2018) |
| Probiotic consumption decreases the incidence of AURTIs in children | Systematic review and meta-analysis | *Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001, *Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (ATCC 53103), Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12, and *Lactobacillus fermentum CECT5716, or a mixture of several probiotic strains | 105 to 1010 CFU/d Duration: 5 days to 12 months |
Wang et al. (2016) |
| Probiotic use would save 2.4 million CRTI-days, 291,000 antibiotic courses and 581,000 sick leave days | Health-economic analysis based in two meta-analysis | *Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001, Lactobacillus gasseri PA16/8, Bifidobacterium longum SP07/3, MF20/5, *Lactobacillus casei DN-114001, *Lactobacillus GG and others | 107 to 109 CFU/d Duration: 3 weeks to 7 months. |
Lenoir-Wijnkoop et al. (2015) |
| Probiotic or synbiotic can reduce the severity of symptoms related to AURTIs and shorter clinical course of AURTIs | Systematic review | Lactobacillus acidophilus, *Lactobacillus casei, *Lactobacillus plantarum, *Lactobacillus reuteri, *Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus johnsonii, Bifidobacterium animalis, Bifidobacterium infantis, Bifidobacterium longum, Bifidobacterium breve and others. Synbiotic products containing the prebiotics FOS, inulin, and others | 105 to 109 CFU/d Duration: few days to 7 months. |
Vouloumanou et al. (2009) |
| Fewer numbers of days of AURTI per person, shorter illness episodes, fewer numbers of days absent from day care/school/work | Systematic review and meta-analysis | Several strains of *Lactobacillus plantarum, *Lactobacillus paracasei, *Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus helveticus, Bifidobacterium infantis, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium longum | Dose not informed. Duration: 5 days to 7 months |
King et al. (2014) |
| Reduced risk of upper respiratory infections and antibiotic treatments | Meta-analysis of randomized, placebo-controlled trials | *Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG | Not specified | Liu et al. (2013) |
| Probiotic administration was associated with a reduction in VAP incidence and shorter duration of antibiotic use | Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials | *Lactobacillus rhamnosus, *Lactobacillus plantarum, *Lactobacillus casei, *Lactobacillus paracasei, Bifidobacterium longum, Bifidobacterium breve, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis, Synbiotic products containing the prebiotics inulin, resistant starch | 108 to 1011 CFU/d Duration: 14 days to 90 days. |
Su et al. (2020) |
| Probiotics may offer a safe means of the risk of recurrent respiratory infections during the first year of life | Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study | *Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Bifidobacterium lactis Bb-12 | Counts between 1 × 109 and 1 × 1010 Duration: 12 months |
Rautava et al. (2009) |
| Probiotics decreased the presence of picornaviruses after 3 months. | Meta-analysis of randomized, placebo-controlled trials | *Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis BB-12 | Twice daily 5 × 109 CFU Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (ATCC 53103) e 2 × 109 CFU Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis (DSM 15954) Duration: 90 or 150 days |
Lehtoranta et al. (2014) |
| A significantly lower incidence of AURTIs was detected in infants receiving prebiotics or probiotics. Incidence of rhinovirus-induced episodes was found to be significantly lower in the prebiotic and probiotic. No differences on duration or severity of rhinovirus infections | Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial | *Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, ATCC 53,103 and prebiotics GOS and polydextrose | 1 × 109 CFU/day for 1 to 30 days and 2 × 109 CFU for 31 to 60 days. Polydextrose and GOS in a 1:1 ratio at 1 × 600 mg/day for 1 to 30 days and 2 × 600 mg/day for 31 to 60 days |
Luoto et al. (2014) |
| Probiotic may reduce the risk of respiratory and GI infections | Single-center, randomized, double-blind, and controlled study | *Lactobacillus casei DN-114 001 | Two bottles of 100 mL with 1010 CFU Durations: 14 days |
Guillemard et al. (2010) |
| Reduction in the incidence of influenza in schoolchildren | Open-label, parallel-group trial | *Lactobacillus brevis KB290 (KB290) | One bottle (80 mL) with 109 CFU Duration: 5 days per week for 8 weeks |
Waki et al. (2014) |
| Reduction the incidence of influenza and fever, probably by potentiating innate immunity | Randomized, placebo-controlled, doubleblind trial | Bifidobacterium longum BB536 | 1011 CFU daily Duration: 5 weeks |
Namba et al. (2010) |
| Lower respiratory tract infections | Randomized clinical synbiotic trial | *Lactobacillus plantarum plus FOS | ~ 109 CFU Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC strain 202,195 and 150 mg of FOS with 100 mg maltodextrin | Panigrahi et al. (2017) |
| Intake of probiotic significantly shortened common cold episodes and reduced the severity of symptoms | Double blind randomizes controlled trial | Lactobacillus gasseri PA16/8, Bifidobacterium longum SP 07/3, Bifidobacterium bifidum MF 20/5 | 5 × 107 UFC Duration: 3 months |
Vrese et al. (2005) |
*Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus paracasei, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus fermentum, and Lactobacillus reuteri have been recently re-classified as Lacticaseibacillus casei, Lacticaseibacillus paracasei, Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Levilactobacillus brevis, Limosilactobacillus fermentum, Limosilactobacillus reuteri (Zheng et al., 2020). AURTI; acute upper respiratory tract infections; CRTI, common respiratory tract infections; FOS, fructooligosaccharides; GI, gastrointestinal; GOS, galactooligosaccharides; VAP, pneumonia associated with mechanical ventilation.