Saccharomyces boulardii effects on gastrointestinal diseases.

Health benefits attributed to probiotics have been described for decades. They include the treatment and the prevention of gastrointestinal diseases, vaginal and urinary infections and allergies. Saccharomyces boulardii, a species of yeast widely distributed, has been described as a biotherapeutic agent since several clinical trials displayed its beneficial effects in the prevention and the treatment of intestinal infections and in the maintenance of inflammatory bowel disease. All these diseases are characterized by acute diarrhoea. Administration of the yeast in combination or not with an antibiotherapy has shown to decrease significantly the duration and the frequency of diarrhoea. Experimental studies elucidated partially the molecular mechanisms triggered to improve the host health. The discovery of its anti-inflammatory and immuno-modulatory activities in correlation with the advances in the understanding of mucosal immunology opens a new field of perspectives in S. boulardii therapeutic applications.