Probiotic Bacteria Influence the Composition and Function of the Intestinal Microbiota

Table 1

Beneficial properties reported for probiotic bacteria.

Host benefit	Microbial trait implicated	Reference^1
Immune modulation
Stimulation of immunity	Enhance T-cell numbers and activity levels	[13]
Dampening of inflammation	Promote anti-inflammatory cytokine production	[14]
Pathogen burden reduction	Competitive exclusion	[15]
	Direct antagonism	[16, 17]
	Uncharacterised	[18, 19]
Improved gut barrier function	Promote gut barrier integrity	[20]
Reduced cancer risk	Detoxification of carcinogenic metabolites	[21]
Reduced atopic allergy symptoms	Suppression of hypersensitivity	[22]
Reduced cardiovascular disease risk	Cholesterol reduction by deconjugation of bile salts	[23, 24]
	Production of anti-hypertensive peptides	[25]
Alleviation of dietary intolerance	Catabolism of dietary ingredients	[26]
Enhanced nutrient value	Vitamin and co-factor production	[27]
Alleviation of IBS^2 symptoms	Not defined	[28, 29]

¹Sample reference for each trait. See main text for review references,²Irritable bowel syndrome.