The use of probiotics in IBD and IBS.

While the role of microflora is well established in the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBS); data is still emerging regarding IBS as the knowledge on brain-gut interaction grows. For both patient groups multiple efficacious treatments exist, but there are still unmet needs as long term disease control remains an issue. Given the importance of the microbiome on the development of the immune system and the interaction between the microbiome and the host organism, this "route" is being examined increasingly as a therapeutic possibility in both pathologies with variable results. We here provide a short overview on the existing data, meta-analysis and single studies, on probiotic treatment in both diseases.