Sadaf Ajmal, Nuzhat Ahmed.
Role of probiotics in diseases.
Pak J Med Res Jan ;48(4):94-5.

Probiotics are naturally occurring beneficial organisms that aid in digestion and inhibit disease-causing bacteria in the intestine. Due to the beneficial impact of microorganism used as probiotics progressive attention has been focused on biological and molecular characterization of microorganisms. Probiotics in the strictest sense refers to lactic acid producing bacteria. Lactic acid bacteria are major organisms, which can resist the strong acid of the stomach and the low surface tension of bile and colonize in the intestine, which is their normal habitat. Lactic acid bacteria mainly include Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria. Various studies have indicated that lactobacillus species may have a positive influence on the intestinal flora of human, alleviate lactose intolerance, have hypocholesterolemic effect, stimulate immunity, reduce inflammatory, have anti-colon cancer effects, Crohn`s disease, candidiasis, diarrhea, constipation and inhibit pathogens. Interest in the field of probiotics has bloomed in recent years and considering the above impressive list of potential health-promoting benefits, it is not surprising that there continues to be considerable interest in the use of probiotics as biotherapeutic tool to improve the diseased conditions of humans although much remains to be elucidated.

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