: To Survive, or Not to Survive the Gastrointestinal Tract, That Is the Question!

Overview

Journal Nutrients

Date 2020 Jul 26

PMID 32708008

Citations 27

Authors

Andela Martinovic

Riccardo Cocuzzi

Stefania Arioli

Diego Mora

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The probiotic market is increasing world-wide as well as the number of products marketed as probiotics. Among the latter, many products contain strains at several dosages. However, the scientific evidence that should support the probiotic status of those strains is often contradictory. This review analyses the scientific literature aimed to assess the ability of strains to survive the human gastrointestinal tract by discussing the scientific validity of the methods applied for the bacterial recovery and identification from stool samples. This review highlights that in most of the intervention studies reviewed, the identification of strains from stools was not carried out with the necessary taxonomic accuracy to avoid their misidentification with , a common human commensal and a species phylogenetically close to . Moreover, this review highlights how critical the accurate taxonomic identification of in metagenomics-based studies can be.

Citing Articles

investigations on the impact of fermented dairy constituents on fecal microbiota composition and fermentation activity.

Li Q, Marietou A, Andersen F, Hosek J, Scavenius C, Zhang J Microbiol Spectr. 2025; 13(3):e0219324.

PMID: 39902955 PMC: 11878039. DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.02193-24.

Characterization of Extracellular Vesicles from Streptococcus thermophilus 065 and Their Potential to Modulate the Immune Response.

Ortiz Camargo A, van Mastrigt O, Gouw J, Liu Y, Bongers R, van Bergenhenegouwen J Probiotics Antimicrob Proteins. 2025; .

PMID: 39891859 DOI: 10.1007/s12602-024-10422-0.

Functional genomic insights into Floricoccus penangensis ML061-4 isolated from leaf surface of Assam tea.

Rungsirivanich P, Parlindungan E, Mahony J, Supandee W, Thongwai N, Van Sinderen D Sci Rep. 2025; 15(1):2951.

PMID: 39848972 PMC: 11758030. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-86602-x.

Comparative genome analysis of microbial strains marketed for probiotic interventions: an extension of the Integrated Probiotic Database.

Petraro S, Tarracchini C, Lugli G, Mancabelli L, Fontana F, Turroni F Microbiome Res Rep. 2025; 3(4):45.

PMID: 39741953 PMC: 11684986. DOI: 10.20517/mrr.2024.11.

Uncovering the Probiotic Supplement Landscape: Market Offerings, Sales Patterns, and Future Forecasts Using Machine Learning Approach - A Case Study of Montenegro.

Andela M, Ivan M, Mora D, Arioli S Probiotics Antimicrob Proteins. 2024; .

PMID: 39581930 DOI: 10.1007/s12602-024-10400-6.

References

Sanders M, Klaenhammer T, Ouwehand A, Pot B, Johansen E, Heimbach J . Effects of genetic, processing, or product formulation changes on efficacy and safety of probiotics. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2014; 1309:1-18. DOI: 10.1111/nyas.12363. View

Yu J, Sun Z, Liu W, Xi X, Song Y, Xu H . Multilocus sequence typing of Streptococcus thermophilus from naturally fermented dairy foods in China and Mongolia. BMC Microbiol. 2015; 15:236. PMC: 4620635. DOI: 10.1186/s12866-015-0551-0. View

Martini M, Lerebours E, Lin W, Harlander S, Berrada N, Antoine J . Strains and species of lactic acid bacteria in fermented milks (yogurts): effect on in vivo lactose digestion. Am J Clin Nutr. 1991; 54(6):1041-6. DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/54.6.1041. View

Park H, Shim S, Kim S, Park J, Park S, Kim H . Molecular analysis of colonized bacteria in a human newborn infant gut. J Microbiol. 2005; 43(4):345-53. View

Labayen I, Forga L, Gonzalez A, Lenoir-Wijnkoop I, Nutr R, Martinez J . Relationship between lactose digestion, gastrointestinal transit time and symptoms in lactose malabsorbers after dairy consumption. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2001; 15(4):543-9. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2036.2001.00952.x. View

Favier C, Vaughan E, de Vos W, Akkermans A . Molecular monitoring of succession of bacterial communities in human neonates. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2002; 68(1):219-26. PMC: 126580. DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.1.219-226.2002. View

Zhu Y, Wang H, Hollis J, Jacques P . The associations between yogurt consumption, diet quality, and metabolic profiles in children in the USA. Eur J Nutr. 2014; 54(4):543-50. DOI: 10.1007/s00394-014-0735-7. View

Lugli G, Mangifesta M, Mancabelli L, Milani C, Turroni F, Viappiani A . Compositional assessment of bacterial communities in probiotic supplements by means of metagenomic techniques. Int J Food Microbiol. 2019; 294:1-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2019.01.011. View

Doyuk E, Ormerod O, Bowler I . Native valve endocarditis due to Streptococcus vestibularis and Streptococcus oralis. J Infect. 2002; 45(1):39-41. DOI: 10.1053/jinf.2002.1004. View

10.

Mora D, Maguin E, Masiero M, Parini C, Ricci G, Manachini P . Characterization of urease genes cluster of Streptococcus thermophilus. J Appl Microbiol. 2003; 96(1):209-19. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2672.2003.02148.x. View

11.

Fang S, Lai Y, Chou C . The susceptibility of Streptococcus thermophilus 14085 to organic acid, simulated gastric juice, bile salt and disinfectant as influenced by cold shock treatment. Food Microbiol. 2012; 33(1):55-60. DOI: 10.1016/j.fm.2012.08.012. View

12.

Bolotin A, Quinquis B, Renault P, Sorokin A, Ehrlich S, Kulakauskas S . Complete sequence and comparative genome analysis of the dairy bacterium Streptococcus thermophilus. Nat Biotechnol. 2004; 22(12):1554-8. PMC: 7416660. DOI: 10.1038/nbt1034. View

13.

Hols P, Hancy F, Fontaine L, Grossiord B, Prozzi D, Leblond-Bourget N . New insights in the molecular biology and physiology of Streptococcus thermophilus revealed by comparative genomics. FEMS Microbiol Rev. 2005; 29(3):435-63. DOI: 10.1016/j.femsre.2005.04.008. View

14.

Mater D, Bretigny L, Firmesse O, Flores M, Mogenet A, Bresson J . Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus survive gastrointestinal transit of healthy volunteers consuming yogurt. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2005; 250(2):185-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.femsle.2005.07.006. View

15.

Brigidi P, Swennen E, Vitali B, Rossi M, Matteuzzi D . PCR detection of Bifidobacterium strains and Streptococcus thermophilus in feces of human subjects after oral bacteriotherapy and yogurt consumption. Int J Food Microbiol. 2002; 81(3):203-9. DOI: 10.1016/s0168-1605(02)00245-3. View

16.

Botina S, Tsygankov I, Sukhodolets V . [Phylogenetic analysis of type strains of the Salivarius group of the genus Streptococcus based on their 16S rRNA gene sequences]. Mikrobiologiia. 2007; 76(3):429-32. View

17.

Taylor B, Lejzerowicz F, Poirel M, Shaffer J, Jiang L, Aksenov A . Consumption of Fermented Foods Is Associated with Systematic Differences in the Gut Microbiome and Metabolome. mSystems. 2020; 5(2). PMC: 7380580. DOI: 10.1128/mSystems.00901-19. View

18.

Rajkumar H, Mahmood N, Kumar M, Varikuti S, Challa H, Myakala S . Effect of probiotic (VSL#3) and omega-3 on lipid profile, insulin sensitivity, inflammatory markers, and gut colonization in overweight adults: a randomized, controlled trial. Mediators Inflamm. 2014; 2014:348959. PMC: 3984795. DOI: 10.1155/2014/348959. View

19.

Mora D, Arioli S . Microbial urease in health and disease. PLoS Pathog. 2014; 10(12):e1004472. PMC: 4263730. DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004472. View

20.

van den Bogert B, Erkus O, Boekhorst J, de Goffau M, Smid E, Zoetendal E . Diversity of human small intestinal Streptococcus and Veillonella populations. FEMS Microbiol Ecol. 2013; 85(2):376-88. DOI: 10.1111/1574-6941.12127. View