Probiotics for the Control of Parasites: An Overview

Table 1

List of probiotics tested on different eukaryotic pathogens. The first column illustrates the pathogens studied; the second one indicates the probiotics tested (and if known, their strain reference; n.s. non specified) and the corresponding references. The third column gives details of the level of the studies: clinical in patients (Human), in vivo in natural or experimental animal models (pig, mouse, calf, rat, chicken, gerbil), or at a cellular level (cyst differentiation and survival, trophozoites development, and invasion capacity). The fourth column specifies the administration conditions of the probiotic (A): a–d: before infection; a—0–3 days, b—3–7 days, c—7–15 days, d—more than 15 days, e—after infection, and f—concomitant administration and infection. The last column indicates the result (R) of the studies. Results are indicated in terms of reduction of parasitic load in comparison to control for in vivo studies or in term of reduction of viability/infectivity for in vitro assays, −: negative impact of probiotic, 0: no significant effect, +: 25–50% of reduction, ++: 50–75% of reduction, and +++: 75–100% of reduction. n.d.: not determined; *: clinical case.

Pathogen	Probiotic tested	Host	A	R
Ascaris suum	B. lactis (pig isolate) [53]	Pig	d	n.d.
Babesia microti	L. casei ATCC7469 [56, 58]	Mouse	a	+++
			b	+
Cryptosporidium parvum	L. reuteri 4000, 4020 [21]	Mouse	c	+++
	L. reuteri 4000, 4020 or L. acidophilus NCFM [22]	Mouse	c	++
	L. reuteri 4000, 4020 [23]	Mouse	c	++
	L. rhamnosus GG + L. casei shirota [24]	Human	e	*
	VSL#3 or Actimel [25]	Neonatal rat	a	0
	B. brevis, E. faecium, P. alcaligenes [26]	Calf	f	0
	L. reuteri ATCC23272 or L. acidophilus NCFM [27, 28]	Cell culture		+
	B. breve ATCC15698 or B. longum ATCC15707 [28]	Cell culture		+++
	B. brevis, E. faecium and P. alcaligenes [29]	Cell culture		+++
Eimeria  tenella/acervulina	Primalac [45–47]	Chicken	d	++
	Mitomax [48]	Chicken	d	+
	Mitogrow [40]	Chicken	d	+
	L. acidophilus Lb33ac, L. salivarius Lb14c7 Lb16c6 [49]	Cell culture		++
Giardia lamblia	L. johnsonii LA1 [33]	Cell culture		+++
	L. johnsonii LA1 [34]	Gerbil	b	++
	L. casei MTCC1423 [35]	Mouse	b	+++
	E. faecium SF68 [36, 37]	Mouse	b	+++
Plasmodium chabaudi	L. casei ATCC7469 [59]	Mouse	c	+
Schistosoma mansoni	Z. mobilis [55]	Mouse	b	++
			e	−
Toxocara canis	E. faecalis CECT7121 [52]	Mouse	b	+++
Trichinella spiralis	L. casei ATCC7469 [50, 51]	Mouse	b	+
Trypanosoma cruzi	L. casei ATCC7469 [60]	Mouse	b	+++

B. breve: Bifidobacterium breve; B. brevis: Bacillus brevis; B. lactis: Bifidobacterium lactis; E. faecium: Enterococcus faecium; L. acidophilus: Lactobacillus acidophilus; L. casei : Lactobacillus casei; L. johnsonii: Lactobacillus johnsonii; L. paracasei: Lactobacillus paracasei; L. reuteri: Lactobacillus reuteri; L. rhamnosus: Lactobacillus rhamnosus; P. alcaligenes: Pseudomonas alcaligenes; S. boulardii: Saccharomyces boulardii; Z. mobilis: Zymomonas mobilis.
Sources of commercial probiotics: Actimel : Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilius, and Lactobacillus casei DN-114 01; Mitogrow Imagilin Technology, consists of live Pediococcus acidilactici; Mitomax Imagilin Technology, consists of live Pediococcus acidilactici and Saccharomyces boulardii; Primalac contains primarily Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus casei; VSL#3: four strains of lactobacilli (Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus, and Lactobacillus bulgaricus), three strains of bifidobacteria (Bifidobacterium infantis, Bifidobacterium longum, and Bifidobacterium breve), and one strain of streptococcus (Streptococcus thermophilius).