Probiotics for the Control of Parasites: An Overview

Figure 1

Schematic representation of the different routes by which probiotics may control a pathogen. (1) Probiotics can modulate their physicochemical environment (nutrients, mucus, receptors availability on epithelial cells, pH, tight junctions, and peristaltism). (2) Probiotics can produce biologically active molecules such as bacteriocins, antibiotics, or oxygen peroxide that possess antimicrobial properties. (3) Probiotics can induce immune modulation, either through interaction with dendritic cells that can, in turn, modulate the differentiation of naïve T cells into Th1, Th2, or Treg lymphocytes, leading to different cytokine induction and/or through a humoral immune response via IgA producing cells and their secretory IgA (sIgA).