Drug Interactions, Safety and Efficacy of Probiotics

The term “probiotic” etymologically appears to be composed of the Latin preposition pro, meaning “for” or “in support”, and the Greek adjective “biotic” from the noun bios meaning “life”, together these two words gave the meaning ‘for life’ or ‘in support of life’. Commercially available probiotics are formulations of live microbial cells such as Bacillus clausii, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium that contribute to intestinal microbial balance. Prebiot­ics are selectively fermented ingredients that allow specif­ic changes, both in the composition and/ or activity in the gastrointestinal microbiota that confers benefits upon host well-being and health. The term synbiotic is used when a product contains both probiotics and prebiotics. Probiotics are most commonly used for gastro-intestinal problems, such as inflammatory diseases and diarrhea, and for yeast and urinary tract infections. Probiotics are generally considered as safe, but there are reports of their unwanted outcomes and side effects, which could be associated with unregulated use, interactions with other drugs, and efficacy and storage conditions of these microbial formulations. Thus, this paper emphasizes on the issues related to such unwanted sequels due to administration of probiotics, so as to understand and cautiously use, and develop appropriate administrative regimes for this important dietary supplement.