Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Pharmacol Res. 2010 Mar;61(3):213-8. doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2010.01.004. Epub 2010 Jan 18.
A new era in medical science has dawned with the realization of the critical role of the "forgotten organ", the enteric microbiota, in generating a variety of functions which sustain health and, when disrupted, lead to disease. Central to this beneficial interaction between the microbiota and man is the manner in which the bacteria contained within the gut "talk" to the immune system and, in particular, the immune system that is so widespread within the gut itself, the gut-associated (or mucosa-associated) lymphoid system. Into this landscape come two new players: probiotics and prebiotics. While many products have masqueraded as probiotics, only those which truly and reproducibly contain live organisms and which have been shown, in high quality human studies, to confer a health benefit can actually claim this title. Several human disease states have benefited from the use of probiotics, most notably, diarrheal illnesses, some inflammatory bowel diseases, certain infectious disorders and, most recently, irritable bowel syndrome. Prebiotics promote the growth of "good" bacteria and, while a variety of health benefits have been attributed to their use, prebiotics have been subjected to few large scale clinical trials.
医学新纪元已经到来，人们认识到“被遗忘的器官”——肠道微生物群——在产生维持健康的各种功能方面发挥着关键作用，而当其功能被打乱时，就会导致疾病。肠道微生物群与人体之间的这种有益相互作用的核心是肠道内细菌与免疫系统相互“交流”的方式，特别是在肠道内广泛存在的免疫系统——肠道相关（或黏膜相关）淋巴系统。在这种情况下，出现了两种新的物质：益生菌和益生元。虽然许多产品都伪装成益生菌，但只有那些真正能够重复产生并含有活生物体的产品，并且在高质量的人体研究中显示出对健康有益的产品，才能真正声称具有这种功效。一些人类疾病状态已经从益生菌的使用中受益，最显著的是腹泻疾病、某些炎症性肠病、某些传染病，以及最近的肠易激综合征。益生元促进“有益”细菌的生长，虽然已经归因于它们的使用有多种健康益处，但益生元很少经过大规模临床试验的检验。
