• Effects of Probiotics on Human Gastrointestinal Health
  • mohammad saeedi,1,* Shaghayegh Omidi,2 Fatemeh Mehranfar,3
    1. Semnan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services
    2. Semnan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services
    3. Semnan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services


  • Introduction: Probiotics are bacteria that have different strains, such as Bifidobacterium longum (B. longum) and Lactobacillus acidophilus (L. acidophilus), etc. that can have beneficial effects on the health of the digestive tract. The word "probiotic" is taken from the Greek word meaning "for life". It can be said that the most well-known role of probiotic is to regulate the gut. Recent studies have shown that probiotics can have modulatory effects on the gut and can also reduce the occurrence of diarrhea and the mean frequency of daily gut motions and probiotics can also help prevent colorectal cancer (CRC). Prebiotics are foods that can promote the growth of beneficial bacteria such as probiotics. Recent studies have shown that microbial and environmental factors such as dietary supplements and diet and lifestyle can affect the health of the human gastrointestinal tract.
  • Methods: In this study, the essential information gathered through various articles by systematic review and search in websites such as the Pub Med and Google Scholar. About 10 articles published from 2015 to 2019 were reviewed and the results of these studies were obtained.
  • Results: Recent studies have shown that the function of probiotics can include the production of bacteriocin and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), lowering the intestinal pH and agitating mucosal barrier function and the immune system. By reviewing various articles, we point out some of the results of these articles, for example, L. acidophilus and L. bulgaricus cause prevented Helicobacter pylori adherence to GES-1 cells, L. bulgaricus restrained IL-8 production by GES-1 cells via transition of the TLR4/IκBα/NF-κB trajectory, Saccharomyces boulardii in diarrhea patients will lead to an improvement and decrease in frequency, L. plantarum, L. acidophilus, B. longum in patients with CRC can improve the solidarity of gut mucosal barrier and reduce the ramifications of infection and L. rhamnosus GG (LGG), B. lactis in patients with CRC can hinder increased production of IFN-γ.
  • Conclusion: By reviewing the literature, it can be concluded that probiotics can have beneficial effects on human health, especially the gastrointestinal tract, and can be used adequately in the diet to enhance gastrointestinal function.
  • Keywords: Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Gut microbiota, Probiotics, SCFAs.