Immunomodulatory Benefits of Probiotic Bacteria: A Review of Evidence

Abstract

Over the past few decades, probiotics have emerged as a viable medical tool for preventing and/or treating diseases. This narrative review provides recent findings on Probiotics and their benefits on the host immune system. It also highlights the specific mechanisms through which probiotics mediate those benefits. The study also explores the topical or systemic probiotic administration method. Authors screened databases like Google Scholar, Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure database, using various keyword combinations such as: “probiotic” AND “Immunomodulation” OR “probiotic” AND “Immunoregulation” OR “probiotic” AND “Immunostimulation”, for relevant literature written in English only. The review shows that probiotics can regulate the host immune system, including regulating T cells, dendritic cells, intestinal epithelial cells, and several signal pathways, and confer health benefits. Although several clinical trials also revealed the prospects and efficacy of probiotics as immunomodulators and treatment of diseases, there is a need for thorough future investigations on the effectiveness of specific strains of probiotics involved in immunomodulation.