Author(s)

Saskia Van Hemert, Geline Ormel

Research and Development Winclove Probiotics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The intestinal epithelium is a single cell layer that forms the largest and most important barrier against the external environment. A proper functioning of the intestinal barrier is essential for maintaining optimal health. A disrupted intestinal barrier function has been associated with the development of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Probiotics are live microorganisms that confer a health benefit to the host and have been associated with prevention of diseases such as antibiotic-associated diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease. Probiotics can improve and restore the intestinal barrier function in diverse ways and effects are thought to be species- and even strain-specific. With this research the influence of probiotic bacteria in Ecologic^? BARRIER on parameters of intestinal barrier function was investigated. The results show that each bacterial strain in Ecologic^?BARRIER is in vitro capable to improve the epithelial barrier in diverse ways.

Probiotics, Ecologic^® BARRIER, Intestinal Barrier Function

Hemert, S. and Ormel, G. (2014) Influence of the Multispecies Probiotic Ecologic^® BARRIER on Parameters of Intestinal Barrier Function. Food and Nutrition Sciences, 5, 1739-1745. doi: 10.4236/fns.2014.518187.