Nowadays, the oral use of probiotics is widespread. However, the safety profile with the use of live probiotics is still a matter of debate. Main risks include: Cases of systemic infections due to translocation, particularly in vulnerable patients and pediatric populations; acquisition of antibiotic resistance genes; or interference with gut colonization in neonates. To avoid these risks, there is an increasing interest in non-viable microorganisms or microbial cell extracts to be used as probiotics, mainly heat-killed (including tyndallized) probiotic bacteria (lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria). Heat-treated probiotic cells, cell-free supernatants, and purified key components are able to confer beneficial effects, mainly immunomodulatory effects, protection against enteropathogens, and maintenance of intestinal barrier integrity. At the clinical level, products containing tyndallized probiotic strains have had a role in gastrointestinal diseases, including bloating and infantile coli—in combination with mucosal protectors—and diarrhea. Heat-inactivated probiotics could also have a role in the management of dermatological or respiratory allergic diseases. The reviewed data indicate that heat-killed bacteria or their fractions or purified components have key probiotic effects, with advantages versus live probiotics (mainly their safety profile), positioning them as interesting strategies for the management of common prevalent conditions in a wide variety of patients´ characteristics.

/pdf/health-benefits-of-heat-killed-tyndallized-probiotics-an-2nejq2npg7.pdf

Health Benefits of Heat-Killed (Tyndallized) Probiotics: An Overview.

In summary, orally administered probiotic strains can reduce the incidence and severity of viral RTIs. At a time when doctors are using drugs with little anti- COVID-19 data, probiotic strains documented for anti-viral and respiratory activities (not low-quality undocumented imitations) should become part of the armamentarium to reduce the burden and severity of this pandemic. Government funding is being used to test numerous drugs but just as important, they should fund probiotic trials. In addition, use of recognized prebiotics (e.g., fructans, galactans) to enhance propagation of probiotic strains and indigenous beneficial microbes should be recommended as part of the overall strategy to flatten the curve (11, 50).

https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_09F527C230AF.P001/REF.pdf

Using Probiotics to Flatten the Curve of Coronavirus Disease COVID-2019 Pandemic

Background Gastroenteritis accounts for approximately 1.7 million visits to the emergency department (ED) by children in the United States every year. Data to determine whether the use of ...

/pdf/multicenter-trial-of-a-combination-probiotic-for-children-54q7s63nqq.pdf

Multicenter Trial of a Combination Probiotic for Children with Gastroenteritis.

Acute gastroenteritis in children.

Probiotics as an alternative antimicrobial therapy: Current reality and future directions

Annual mortality rates due to infectious diarrhea are about 2.2 million; children are the most vulnerable age group to severe gastroenteritis, representing group A rotaviruses as the main cause of disease. One of the main factors of rotavirus pathogenesis is the NSP4 protein, which has been characterized as a viral toxin involved in triggering several cellular responses leading to diarrhea. Furthermore, the rotavirus protein NSP1 has been associated with interferon production inhibition by inducing the degradation of interferon regulatory factors IRF3, IRF5, and IRF7. On the other hand, probiotics such as Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus species in combination with prebiotics such as inulin, HMO, scGOS, lcFOS have been associated with improved generalized antiviral response and anti-rotavirus effect by the reduction of rotavirus infectivity and viral shedding, decreased expression of NSP4 and increased levels of specific anti-rotavirus IgAs. Moreover, these probiotics and prebiotics have been related to shorter duration and severity of rotavirus diarrhea, to the prevention of infection and reduced incidence of reinfections. In this review we will discuss in detail about the rotavirus pathogenesis and immunity, and how probiotics such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species in combination with prebiotics have been associated with the prevention or modulation of rotavirus severe gastroenteritis.

/pdf/modulation-of-rotavirus-severe-gastroenteritis-by-the-4xcshdxzzn.pdf

Ramona Icedo-García

Papers

Modulation of rotavirus severe gastroenteritis by the combination of probiotics and prebiotics

Hypoxia inducible factor -1 regulates WSSV-induced glycolytic genes in the white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei.

Viral agents of gastroenteritis and their correlation with clinical symptoms in rotavirus-vaccinated children.