Gut bacteria and human cells are linked in a social network

Oregon State University: In our intestines, billions of microbes live together like the residents of a teeming metropolis. They occupy neighborhoods and meet on the streets, back alleys and cul-de-sacs of our digestive networks. They even communicate with a kind of microbial Facebook. They function in a symbiotic relationship with each other and with our own cells. In the past decade, scientists have discovered how important these bugs are in digesting our food, building our immune systems, maintaining stable glucose levels and other jobs that are critical to good health.

Allergies? Probiotic combination may curb your symptoms, new study finds

Florida: As we head into allergy season, you may feel less likely to grab a hanky and sneeze. That’s because new University of Florida research shows a probiotic combination might help reduce hay fever symptoms, if it’s taken during allergy season. Many published studies have shown a probiotic’s ability to regulate the body’s immune response to allergies, but not all of the probiotics show a benefit, UF researchers say. “Not all probiotics work for allergies. This one did,” said Jennifer Dennis, a doctoral student in the UF food science and human nutrition department in UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and first author on the latest study. Scientists already know that the probiotic combination of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, sold as Kyo-Dophilus in stores, helps maintain digestive health and parts of the immune system.

Probiotics Benefit in Schizophrenia Shaped by Yeast Infections

Johns Hopkins: In a small pilot study of men with schizophrenia, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and Sheppard Pratt Health System say they have evidence that adding probiotics — microorganisms, such as bacteria found in yogurts — to the patients’ diets may help treat yeast infections and ease bowel problems. Probiotics may also decrease delusions and hallucinations, but in the study, these psychiatric benefits mostly affected those without a history of yeast infections. The findings, published in the May 1 issue of Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, support growing evidence of close links between the mind and the gut.

Probiotics 'aid memory in people with Alzheimer's disease'

NHS: "Probiotics found in yoghurt and supplements could help improve thinking and memory for people with Alzheimer's disease," The Daily Telegraph reports after a small study found people given the bacterial supplement had improved scores on brain function tests. Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts promoted as having various health benefits, and are often added to yoghurt. An Iranian research team gave people with severe Alzheimer's disease a probiotic drink every day for 12 weeks, and then measured the changes in brain function test scores before and after the treatment. They found small improvements after the probiotics were given compared with the placebo group, but it is unclear if these improvements were enough to be clinically useful or noticeable.

Programming probiotics for early detection of liver cancer

UCSD: Scientists at the University of California, San Diego and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have described a new method for detecting liver cancer metastases in mice. The approach uses over-the-counter probiotics genetically programmed to produce signals easily detectable in urine when liver cancer metastases are present. The results of the new study, published in the May 27 issue of Science Translational Medicine, indicate that genetically-programmed probiotics may be useful for detecting liver cancer metastases early-on in the progression of the disease.

Decades of research yield natural dairy thickener with probiotic potential

Oregon: Microbiologists at Oregon State University have discovered and helped patent and commercialize a new type of dairy or food thickener, which may add probiotic characteristics to the products in which it’s used. The thickener is now in commercial use, and OSU officials say it may have a significant impact in major industries. The global market for polymers such as this approaches $7 billion, and there are estimates the U.S. spends up to $120 billion a year on probiotic products such as yogurt, sour cream and buttermilk. The new product is produced by a natural bacterium that was isolated in Oregon. It’s the result of decades of research, beginning in the early 1990s when a novel polymer with an ability to rapidly thicken milk was discovered by an OSU microbiologist. The polymer is known as Ropy 352 and produced by a non-disease-causing bacterium.

Study shows probiotics may help ease allergies

Vanderbilt: Using probiotics may help alleviate the symptoms of allergic rhinitis (AR), also known as seasonal or perennial allergies, according to a Vanderbilt study that reviewed 23 previous trials. The results were published in April in the online version of the journal International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology. “When you look at all the studies combined, there was a statistically significant improvement in both the rhinitis-specific quality of life of those patients and in their nasal specific quality of life,” said lead author Justin Turner, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of Otolaryngology. But he cautioned that “the jury is still out” and suggests the topic is ripe for future studies.

Probiotics to prevent upper respiratory tract infections

Cochrane: With the increasing consumption of probiotics (live micro-organisms), we carried out a review on the effects of probiotics in helping people (without immunodeficiencies) to avoid acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), for example, the common cold, compared to placebo.

Can Probiotics Keep Gastrointestinal System Healthy?

Tufts University. US: Many advertisements and Internet postings say probiotics are effective for treating asthma, dermatitis and irritable bowel syndrome.

At best, there is marginal evidence that probiotics help these conditions.

Where they have been convincingly shown to be beneficial is in the treatment or prevention of certain kinds of diarrhea and other, less-common illnesses.

Rotavirus is the most common cause of diarrhea in infants and children. Probiotics will significantly lower the risk of getting the “gastrointestinal flu” because of this virus and other similar organisms. And if a child does get sick, the illness will be less severe if you administer probiotics.