ProbioKid® Reduces Winter Infections

MONTREALInstitut Rosell-Lallemand reported on recent research focused on the interactions of probiotic preparations with the immune response at the 5th Probiotics, Prebiotics & New Foods Meeting held in Rome. The double blind, randomized, controlled, multicentre study, carried out with children using ProbioKid® synbiotic formula, showed ProbioKids ability to reduce the incidence of infectious episodes in school-aged children during the winter period.

Moreover, two in vitro studies carried out in partnership with the Microarray Laboratory at the Biotechnology Research Institute in Montreal were also addressed. These presentations described the development of an immune microarray specially designed to study the effect of probiotic bacteria-human cells interactions upon the expression of genes involved in the immune response (1,354 genes in total). The new technological platform was used to examine the effects of certain probiotic formulas upon immune gene expression by intestinal epithelial cells and immune cells (macrophages). It was applied to the ProbioKid formula, as well as to each individual strain and ingredient present in the formula and to a single strain probiotic formulationL. Plantarum 299v. As a result, both products 1) had an impact on gene expression by intestinal endothelial cells and macrophages and 2) they triggered distinct gene response profiles in both cell types.

ProbioKid, which was proven effective in the clinical trial, was able to modulate the expression of several genes involved in immunity. In particular, the expression of IL-8, an inflammatory marker, was down-regulated by the beneficial microbes present in ProbioKid.