Centre for Immunology and Infectious Disease, Blizard Institute of Cell and Molecular Science, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Newark Street, London E1 4AT, UK.
Proc Nutr Soc. 2010 Aug;69(3):442-6. doi: 10.1017/S0029665110001758. Epub 2010 Jun 14.
Probiotics are bacteria, but sometimes fungi, which when taken by the oral route may give some health benefits. The most compelling evidence for beneficial effects of probiotics is in the prevention and reduction in the duration of symptoms related to gut infectious disease. There is also evidence to show that some specific probiotics are beneficial in Clostridium difficile diarrhoea in the elderly. As further and better controlled clinical studies have appeared, some specific probiotics also appear to have beneficial effects in perhaps preventing and reducing the duration of symptoms due to acquired upper respiratory tract infections. In an attempt to explain these effects, attention has turned to the effects of some specific probiotics on the immune system. There is evidence that some specific probiotics can alter monocyte and natural killer cell function in the blood. Evidence is also accumulating that taking some specific probiotics can boost antibody responses to oral and systemically administered vaccines. The effect when shown is modest and is not always seen in different studies to all vaccines, but there is enough of a trend to make the area worthy of further investigation, particularly to tease out the mechanisms involved.
益生菌是细菌，但有时也属于真菌，通过口服途径摄入可能会带来一些健康益处。益生菌最令人信服的益处证据是在预防和缩短与肠道传染病相关的症状持续时间方面。也有证据表明，某些特定的益生菌对老年人艰难梭菌腹泻有益。随着更多和更好的对照临床试验的出现，一些特定的益生菌似乎也对预防和缩短因获得性上呼吸道感染引起的症状持续时间有有益作用。为了解释这些作用，人们开始关注某些特定益生菌对免疫系统的影响。有证据表明，某些特定的益生菌可以改变血液中的单核细胞和自然杀伤细胞的功能。也有越来越多的证据表明，服用某些特定的益生菌可以增强口服和全身疫苗的抗体反应。已显示出的效果是适度的，并且在不同的研究中并不总是对所有疫苗都可见，但这种趋势足以使其成为进一步研究的领域，特别是要梳理出相关的机制。
