Commentaries

Probiotics and abnormal colonic flora

Role of probiotics in correcting abnormalities of colonic flora induced by stress

Helene Eutamene, Lionel Bueno

Neuro-Gastroenterology and Nutrition Unit, Toulouse, France

Correspondence to:
Dr H Eutamene, Neuro-Gastroenterology and Nutrition Unit, 180 Chemin de Tournefeuille, BP3, 31931 Toulouse Cedex; France; heutamen@toulouse.inra.fr

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Probiotics organise gut microflora for better regulation of the HPA axis not only in the early years but also during adulthood

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The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

It is suggested that daily environmental and emotional stressful life events contribute to the development and reactivation of intestinal inflammation in chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), to the clinical manifestations of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and to the development of food allergies by sensitisation of intestinal tissue to oral antigens through an increase of transepithelial permeability and luminal antigen uptake.^1–3 In animal models of IBD, stress increases the severity of colitis and lowers the threshold for reactivation of mucosal inflammation.⁴ Stressful stimuli are known to affect gastrointestinal functions such as gut motility and secretion, and to increase paracelullar permeability. Defective epithelial barrier function, which can be measured as increased intestinal permeability, has been implicated in IBS and in IBD, in which it can predict relapse during clinical remission.^{5 6} In animal models, both acute (partial restraint stress) and chronic (neonatal) stress enhance luminal bacterial adherence and . . . [Full text of this article]

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