ABSTRACT
Probiotics are a heterogeneous group of non pathogenic bacteria that are functionally defi ned by their ability to produce a health benefi t to the host when provided in adequate amounts. In recent years, a number of rigorous studies based on doubleblind randomized placebo-controlled human intervention trials have been carried out, better supporting the idea that our health can be positively affected by the regular administration of specifi c probiotics. Indeed, the use of probiotics has recently moved from concept to an actual demonstration of specifi c benefi ts by specifi c microorganisms for specifi c populations. For this reason, the effects of several microbial strains that are marketed as established probiotics have been increasingly tested in well-conducted clinical studies for the treatment and prevention of selected disease states, both inside and outside the gastrointestinal tract. In the meantime, there is an interest in selecting novel candidate probiotic strains for particular subject groups. In this survey, we focused on both aspects and therefore literature data was collected and analysed (297 papers) for the strains which were applied in clinical trials in the last fi ve years (2008-2013). Information on the identity of the strain, strain identifi cation number and the kind of application were extracted and presented, to show that only a limited number
Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Italy. Postal address: Strada le Grazie, 15 – Ca’ Vignal 2, I-37134 Verona (Italy). E-mails: elisa.salvetti@univr.it; giovanna.felis@univr.it * Corresponding author: sandra.torriani@univr.it
List of abbreviations at the end of the text.
