In a world grower fatter by the day (1.9 billion overweight and obese), science is searching for answers to the pandemic. There are no easy ones. Obesity is complicated; genetics, lifestyle and the environment create an imperfect storm inside the body. Recent evidence points to the gut microbiome as one important risk factor. Indeed, the […]
Flow Cytometry as a Potential Method of Measuring Bacterial Viability in Probiotic Products
Flow Cytometry as a Potential Method of Measuring Bacterial Viability in Probiotic Products: A Comprehensive Review Martin G. Wilkinson, University of Limerick, Ireland Presented at Probiota 2018, February 7-9, 2018 in Barcelona, Spain This paper was commissioned by International Probiotics Association The measurement of cell viability in foods has traditionally been carried out […]
Microbes Deserve a Closer Look in Lou Gehrig’s disease
Science isn’t hitting any home runs with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Named after a famous baseball player, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS is a progressive disease that destroys nerve cells and causes disability. ALS often begins with muscle twitching, weakness in a limb or slurred speech. Eventually, ALS affects control of the muscles needed to move, […]
Doubling Down on Probiotics in Allergy Season
Bleary eyes, itchy nose and so many sneezes even the blessings have stopped? No surprise here: it’s allergy season. But rather than making inroads against these carnal assaults by fertile pollens of the earth, public health practitioners instead report rising numbers over the last few decades. Allergic rhinitis is caused by an IgE-mediated inflammatory reaction. […]
Multi-strain probiotics: better than single-strain?
If one is good then more is better. This seems to be the prevailing wisdom in multi-strain probiotic dosing, whether through food additives or supplements. The thinking behind this assumption is compelling: more strains may hit more targets and maybe even add up to more than the sum of the single-strain parts. But experts are […]
Gut microbiome keeps intestinal cells healthy: cell assays to assess the mechanism of action of pre- and probiotics in the gastrointestinal tract
By Massimo Marzorati, PhD The intestinal microbiome affects intestinal health at multiple levels. Intestinal bacteria produce several metabolites, which positively influence the intestinal epithelial barrier function and wound healing1,2. Also, gut bacteria prevent the colonization of pathogenic bacteria, by inhibiting their adhesion and by producing antimicrobial components. Further, the intestinal microbiome shapes the immune system, […]