< em > Lactobacillus < /em > as probiotics: opportunities and challenges for potential benefits in female reproductive health

Am J Transl Res. 2024 Mar 15;16(3):720-729. doi: 10.62347/IGWR5474. eCollection 2024.ABSTRACTThe growing interest of the scientific community in the study of probiotics has gathered valuable data about its beneficial effects for multiple clinical conditions. This data also provides evidence for the functions and properties of probiotics and how they contribute to health benefits by influencing normal microbiota. Lactobacillus is an important genus which has long been utilized in the food industry and is also found as normal oral, intestinal and vaginal microbiota. Lactobacillus has shown multiple health benefits but its relative importance as a probiotic is majorly explored for gastrointestinal health. Healthy vaginal microbiota typically harbors Lactobacillus spp. providing several health benefits for female reproductive health, but there is more data required in order to compare the relative benefits with probiotic Lactobacillus added through either natural food sources or with standard probiotics supplements. The present article discusses the current status of knowledge about vaginal Lactobacillus as a probiotic and also compares the potential of probiotics from natural sources and through supplements along with recent approaches in this area.PMID:38586104 | PMC:PMC10994795 | DOI:10.62347/IGWR5474
Source: American Journal of Translational Research - Category: Research Authors: Source Type: research