title: Prebiotics, probiotics and digestive health.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The human gastrointestinal lumen is inhabited by a wide variety of microbiota. Our understanding of the intestinal microbiota and its full consequences on gastrointestinal health is still evolving. However, it is well accepted that altered colonic flora drives the pathogenesis of many disorders and diseases as seen in antibiotic-associated diarrhea and Clostridium difficile infection. Recent works published in the area of probiotics are reviewed here.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Alterations in colonic microbiota, or dysbiosis, are now implicated in irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel diseases. Probiotics and prebiotics are evolving treatment options that are targeted at restoring nonpathogenic digestive flora. There has been great interest in the role of these therapies in treatment of many diseases including childhood diarrhea, antibiotic-associated diarrhea, Clostridium difficile infection, irritable bowel syndrome, and inflammatory bowel disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Trials of probiotics have been shown to be helpful in some of these, not in others, and more work is needed in others. We review recent work done in these areas.
authors.affiliation: Digestive Disease Section, Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, USA.
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Balakrishnan
authors.forename: Martin H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Floch
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology*; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D054892:Metagenome; D056692:Prebiotics; D019936:Probiotics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D056692:Prebiotics