Probiotics are living microorganisms that are present in fermented food and cultured milk. They have various beneficial effects on human health, such as lowering blood pressure, anti-hypercholesterolemic effects, prevention of gastrointestinal disease and boosting immunity. Recently, probiotics have received significant attention because of their effectiveness in treatment of various oral and skin diseases. They are becoming significant alternative for antibiotics or anti-inflammatory drugs which has lead to the growth of the probiotic market. The production of organic acids, such as lactic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid and sometimes hydrogen peroxide, bacteriocins, and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) having variable range of action are mainly responsible for antimicrobial activity of probiotics. The use of antibiotics, immunosuppressive therapy and irradiation, amongst other means of treatment, may cause alterations in the composition and have effect on the gut microbial flora. Therefore, the introduction of beneficial bacterial species into the GI tract may be a very attractive option to alter gut microbiota composition and provoke immune modulation in a host.
Himani Sharma and Samridhi Kapoor (Sun,) studied this question.