Probiotics are life micro-organisms that produce a beneficial effect to the host when administered in an adequate amount (1). Interest in probiotics has grown in recent years, partly because they are an 'ecologic', non-pharmacological and relatively cheap approach to prevent and treat a variety of diseases. The main properties underlying their beneficial effects are the ability to modify the intestinal microbiota, to improve the intestinal barrier and to modulate inflammatory response. With these properties, the potential areas of applicability are wide (1, 2). Evidence for their usefulness is still low, however, and mainly limited to only a few entities, such as necrotizing enterocolitis and acute infectious diarrhoea in children, and antibiotic-associated diarrhoea, pouchitis and lactose maldigestion in adults (1).
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