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Nobel Laureate Elie Metchnikoff formulated the Probiotic Concept approximately 100 years ago. He proposed that consumption of certain 'lactic bacilli' would enhance one's health and well being by maximizing health-promoting activities of the gastrointestinal microbiota and minimizing their potentially harmful effects. It has taken almost all these intervening years to discover specific strains of 'lactic bacilli' able to accomplish these 'probiotic' tasks. And only very recently has an entire species, Lactobacillus reuteri, been shown to possess probiotic efficacy. L. reuteri is the only Lactobacillus species reported to inhabit the gastrointestinal tract of all vertebrates and mammals, ranging from birds to humans, and with whom it is believed to have established a symbiotic relationship. In this review the authors have attempted to compile all available information reported to date concerning L. reuteri and the ability of host-specific strains to protect their respective hosts from an assortment of diseases induced by biological agents (bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoans), certain chemical agents (methotrexate, acetic acid), or environmental stressors (cold-stress). This information is based on laboratory experiments, field trials with animals, and clinical trials with human subjects. It has been concluded that discovery of L. reuteri's broad-spectrum probiotic efficacy in a broad-spectrum of hosts has (a) fully validated Metchnikoff's Probiotic Concept, and (b) resulted in development of new bioprotective and biotherapeutic applications for improving human and animal health.
Casas et al. (Sat,) studied this question.