Probiotics: A role in therapy for inflammatory bowel disease

Hippocrates is credited with saying: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” (1). The term “functional food” includes “any food or food ingredient that may provide a health benefit beyond the traditional nutrients it contains” (2). Probiotic bacteria are forms of functional food that are of particular relevance to gastroenterologists, with evidence for their role in the treatment of infectious and antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Their putative therapeutic role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is receiving growing interest; however, it remains unproven. The Noble laureate, Elie Metchnikoff, suggested that bacteria could be of some benefit to the health of man (3). He suggested that the consumption of copious amounts of fermented dairy products, which served to introduce “beneficial” bacteria to the gastrointestinal tract, was responsible for the longevity of Bulgarian peasants. This marked the birth of probiotics, which are live microorganisms that, when consumed in an adequate amount, confer a health effect on the host (4).