The DOI matches its Crossref record; 208 of the 208 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Probiotics and prebiotics in intestinal health and disease: from biology to the clinic
Open accessAbstract
Probiotics and prebiotics are microbiota-management tools for improving host health. They target gastrointestinal effects via the gut, although direct application to other sites such as the oral cavity, vaginal tract and skin is being explored. Here, we describe gut-derived effects in humans. In the past decade, research on the gut microbiome has rapidly accumulated and has been accompanied by increased interest in probiotics and prebiotics as a means to modulate the gut microbiota. Given the importance of these approaches for public health, it is timely to reiterate factual and supporting information on their clinical application and use. In this Review, we discuss scientific evidence on probiotics and prebiotics, including mechanistic insights into health effects. Strains of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and Saccharomyces have a long history of safe and effective use as probiotics, but Roseburia spp., Akkermansia spp., Propionibacterium spp. and Faecalibacterium spp. show promise for the future. For prebiotics, glucans and fructans are well proven, and evidence is building on the prebiotic effects of other substances (for example, oligomers of mannose, glucose, xylose, pectin, starches, human milk and polyphenols).
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Alongside antibiotics, pre- and pro-biotics offer a route to manipulate the microbiome in prodromal PD [174–176], as assessed in Table 1.”
From The gut–brain axis in early Parkinson’s disease: from prodrome to prevention (2025) · cites this paper as [176]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“However, the antimicrobial efficacy of probiotics is highly strain-specific, reflecting inherent differences and underscoring the importance of systematic screening and mechanistic characterization [12].”
From Comparative Genomics-Based Evaluation of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus KFOM 0134 as a Probiotic against Staphylococcus aureus (2026) · cites this paper as [12]
The check wasn’t confident either way, so it gives no verdict — never disputed.
In the citing paper
“These approaches are primarily used in the early stages of discovery and safety screening to identify potential antibiotic resistance genes, virulence-associated traits, and mobile genetic elements, enabling risk assessment and regulatory evaluation, and supporting phenotypic analyses and clinical validation [31,152,153].”
From Current Concepts in Probiotic Safety and Efficacy (2026) · cites this paper as [153]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe check wasn’t confident either way, so it gives no verdict — never disputed.
In the citing paper
“In contrast, AI-based predictions are currently considered experimental and must undergo rigorous external validation and biological confirmation before they can be considered by regulators, highlighting that computational methods complement existing safety assessments based on standardized phenotypic testing and strain-level documentation [151,153,167].”
From Current Concepts in Probiotic Safety and Efficacy (2026) · cites this paper as [153]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe check wasn’t confident either way, so it gives no verdict — never disputed.
In the citing paper
“These interventions are shown to reverse PD pathology and symptoms in animal models, but these findings have not been reliably replicated in human studies, particularly for motor symptoms.”
From The gut–brain axis in early Parkinson’s disease: from prodrome to prevention (2025) · cites this paper as [176]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
In the citing paper
“In particular, these approaches are crucial for non-traditional probiotic candidates derived from gut commensals that lack a long history of safe use—such as Akkermansia, Faecalibacterium, Bacteroides, and Clostridium species—where in silico analyses complement phenotypic testing to accelerate safe development [153,162].”
From Current Concepts in Probiotic Safety and Efficacy (2026) · cites this paper as [153]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Dermyshi, E., Wang, Y., Yan, C., Hong, W., Qiu, G., Gong, X., & Zhang, T. (2017) · Neonatology · doi:10.1159/000454668 · Cited by 24,586
An obesity-associated gut microbiome with increased capacity for energy harvest
Turnbaugh, P. J., Ley, R. E., Mahowald, M. A., Magrini, V., Mardis, E. R., & Gordon, J. I. (2006) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature05414 · Cited by 12,444
A human gut microbial gene catalogue established by metagenomic sequencing
MetaHIT Consortium, Qin, J., Li, R., Raes, J., Arumugam, M., Burgdorf, K. S., Manichanh, C., Nielsen, T., Pons, N., Levenez, F., et al. (2010) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature08821 · Cited by 11,624
Diet rapidly and reproducibly alters the human gut microbiome
David, L. A., Maurice, C. F., Carmody, R. N., Gootenberg, D. B., Button, J. E., Wolfe, B. E., Ling, A. V., Devlin, A. S., Varma, Y., Fischbach, M. A., et al. (2014) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature12820 · Cited by 10,100
Hill (2014) · doi:10.1038/nrgastro.2014.66 · Cited by 9,592
The metabolic phenotype in obesity: Fat mass, body fat distribution, and adipose tissue function
Goossens, G. H. (2017) · Obesity Facts · doi:10.1159/000471488 · Cited by 8,481
Human gut microbiome viewed across age and geography
Yatsunenko, T., Rey, F. E., Manary, M. J., Trehan, I., Dominguez-Bello, M. G., Contreras, M., Magris, M., Hidalgo, G., Baldassano, R. N., Anokhin, A. P., et al. (2012) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature11053 · Cited by 7,815
Dietary Modulation of the Human Colonic Microbiota: Introducing the Concept of Prebiotics
Gibson, G. R., & Roberfroid, M. B. (1995) · Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1093/jn/125.6.1401 · Cited by 7,659
Self-citationA metagenome-wide association study of gut microbiota in type 2 diabetes
Qin, J., Li, Y., Cai, Z., Li, S., Zhu, J., Zhang, F., Liang, S., Zhang, W., Guan, Y., Shen, D., et al. (2012) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature11450 · Cited by 6,762
Metabolic Endotoxemia Initiates Obesity and Insulin Resistance
Cani, P. D., Amar, J., Iglesias, M. A., Poggi, M., Knauf, C., Bastelica, D., Neyrinck, A. M., Fava, F., Tuohy, K. M., Chabo, C., et al. (2007) · Diabetes · doi:10.2337/db06-1491 · Cited by 6,638
Self-citation
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Gut microbiota in human metabolic health and disease
Fan, Y., & Pedersen, O. (2021) · Nature Reviews Microbiology · doi:10.1038/s41579-020-0433-9 · Cited by 4,724
Shaping the Future of Probiotics and Prebiotics
Cunningham, M., Azcarate-Peril, M. A., Barnard, A., Benoit, V., Grimaldi, R., Guyonnet, D., Holscher, H. D., Hunter, K., Manurung, S., Obis, D., et al. (2021) · Trends in Microbiology · doi:10.1016/j.tim.2021.01.003 · Cited by 637
Self-citationSu, G. L., Ko, C. W., Bercik, P., Falck-Ytter, Y., Sultan, S., Weizman, A. V., & Morgan, R. L. (2020) · Gastroenterology · doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2020.05.059 · Cited by 421
The microbiome–gut–brain axis in Parkinson disease — from basic research to the clinic
Tan, A. H., Lim, S. Y., & Lang, A. E. (2022) · Nature Reviews Neurology · doi:10.1038/s41582-022-00681-2 · Cited by 392
The food-gut axis: lactic acid bacteria and their link to food, the gut microbiome and human health
De Filippis, F., Pasolli, E., & Ercolini, D. (2020) · FEMS Microbiology Reviews · doi:10.1093/femsre/fuaa015 · Cited by 303
The gut microbiome in Alzheimer’s disease: what we know and what remains to be explored
Chandra, S., Sisodia, S. S., & Vassar, R. J. (2023) · Molecular Neurodegeneration · doi:10.1186/s13024-023-00595-7 · Cited by 278
A comprehensive review of probiotics and human health-current prospective and applications
Sarita, B., Samadhan, D., Hassan, M. Z., & Kovaleva, E. G. (2025) · Frontiers in Microbiology · doi:10.3389/fmicb.2024.1487641 · Cited by 250
Probiotics for Constipation in Parkinson Disease: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Study
Tan, A. H., Lim, S.-Y., Chong, K. K., A Manap, M. A. A., Hor, J. W., Lim, J. L., Low, S. C., Chong, C. W., Mahadeva, S., & Lang, A. E. (2021) · Neurology · doi:10.1212/wnl.0000000000010998 · Cited by 226
You’ve got male: Sex and the microbiota-gut-brain axis across the lifespan
Jaggar, M., Rea, K., Spichak, S., Dinan, T. G., & Cryan, J. F. (2020) · Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2019.100815 · Cited by 200
Gut Microbial Ecosystem in Parkinson Disease: New Clinicobiological Insights from Multi‐Omics
Tan, A. H., Chong, C. W., Lim, S., Yap, I. K. S., Teh, C. S. J., Loke, M. F., Song, S., Tan, J. Y., Ang, B. H., Tan, Y. Q., et al. (2021) · Annals of Neurology · doi:10.1002/ana.25982 · Cited by 196
Probiotics in the dairy industry—Advances and opportunities
Gao, J., Li, X., Zhang, G., Sadiq, F. A., Simal‐Gandara, J., Xiao, J., & Sang, Y. (2021) · Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety · doi:10.1111/1541-4337.12755 · Cited by 195
Kim, E., Yang, S.-M., Lim, B., Park, S. H., Rackerby, B., & Kim, H.-Y. (2020) · BMC Microbiology · doi:10.1186/s12866-020-01781-z · Cited by 98
Marx, W., Scholey, A., Firth, J., D’Cunha, N. M., Lane, M., Hockey, M., Ashton, M. M., Cryan, J. F., O’Neil, A., Naumovski, N., et al. (2020) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.07.036 · Cited by 87
Park, H. J., Kim, S. A., Kang, W. S., & Kim, J. W. (2021) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms22041899 · Cited by 59
“It has been demonstrated that this colonization can improve nutrient availability and gut barrier functions, and reduce inflammation in females, leading to the lower susceptibility of females to environmental insults in early life [69].”
BackgroundVan den Abbeele, P., Deyaert, S., Albers, R., Baudot, A., & Mercenier, A. (2023) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu15092090 · Cited by 46
Alvarez, A.-S., Tap, J., Chambaud, I., Cools-Portier, S., Quinquis, L., Bourlioux, P., Marteau, P., Guillemard, E., Schrezenmeir, J., & Derrien, M. (2020) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-020-72161-w · Cited by 36
The gut–brain axis in early Parkinson’s disease: from prodrome to prevention
Oliver, P. J., Civitelli, L., & Hu, M. T. (2025) · Journal of Neurology · doi:10.1007/s00415-025-13138-5 · Cited by 42
“Alongside antibiotics, pre-and pro-biotics offer a route to manipulate the microbiome in prodromal PD [174–176], as assessed in Table 1.”
Gut microbiota resilience and recovery after anticancer chemotherapy
Roggiani, S., Mengoli, M., Conti, G., Fabbrini, M., Brigidi, P., Barone, M., D'Amico, F., & Turroni, S. (2023) · Microbiome Research Reports · doi:10.20517/mrr.2022.23 · Cited by 31
Current Concepts in Probiotic Safety and Efficacy
Churin, A. A., Sokolyanskaya, L. O., Lukina, A. P., & Karnachuk, O. V. (2026) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu18040696 · Cited by 31
“…experimental and must undergo rigorous external validation and biological confirmation before they can be considered by regulators, highlighting that computational methods complement existing safety assessments based on standardized phenotypic testing and strain-level documentation [151,153,167].”
Coleman, J. L., Hatch-McChesney, A., Small, S. D., Allen, J. T., Sullo, E., Agans, R. T., Fagnant, H. S., Bukhari, A. S., & Karl, J. P. (2022) · Advances in Nutrition · doi:10.1093/advances/nmac086 · Cited by 19
Unveiling The Therapeutic Potential of Probiotics: A Review
Tukaram, K. S., Sopanrao, S. R., & Kacharu, L. O. (2025) · Journal of Future Foods · doi:10.1016/j.jfutfo.2025.09.011 · Cited by 19
Probiotics: Origin, Products, and Regulations in India
Narula, A. (2021) · Microorganisms for Sustainability · doi:10.1007/978-981-16-1947-2_4 · Cited by 6
Bile resistance mechanisms in probiotics: From structural adaptation to metabolic regulation
Hu, J.-W., Guo, S.-J., Zhang, L.-W., & Guo, C.-F. (2026) · Food Bioscience · doi:10.1016/j.fbio.2026.108282 · Cited by 5
Bacteriocin gene-mediated ecological adaptation of Bifidobacterium breve in the adult human gut
Wang, J., Qian, X., Li, Q., Jin, Z., Liu, N., Zhao, J., Chen, W., Wang, S., & Tian, P. (2026) · Cell Genomics · doi:10.1016/j.xgen.2025.101106 · Cited by 5
Dumitru, C. N., Dumitru, A. O., Goroftei, L., Niculet, E., Ignat, M. D., Baroiu, L., Nechita, A., & Balan, G. (2026) · Pharmaceutics · doi:10.3390/pharmaceutics18060651 · Cited by 4
Gwak, Y.-S., Suh, H.-Y., Yoon, H.-R., Kim, S., Bae, C.-I., & Kim, M.-J. (2026) · Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology · doi:10.4014/jmb.2606.06012
Metadata
- Authors
- Sanders, M. E., Merenstein, D. J., Reid, G., Gibson, G. R., & Rastall, R. A.
- Affiliations
- Georgetown University Medical Center (US)
- Western University (CA)
- University of Reading (GB)
- Venue
- Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology
- Published
- 2019-07-11
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 605-616
- ISSN
- 1759-5045 (ISSN-L)
- 1759-5053
- OpenAlex
- W2956175090
- Cited by
- 2,059
- References
- 208
- Citations by year
- 2026: 297 · 2025: 365 · 2024: 360 · 2023: 304 · 2022: 318 · 2021: 244 · 2020: 149 · 2019: 18
- FWCI
- 16.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2019-08-09)
- Open access
- Locations
- Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- CentAUR (University of Reading) (acceptedVersion)
- Scholarship@Western (Western University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Microbial Metabolites in Food Biotechnology
- Keywords
- probiotics, prebiotics, gut microbiota, gut health, intestinal diseases, Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Saccharomyces, Roseburia, Akkermansia, Propionibacterium, Faecalibacterium, glucan, fructans, oligosaccharides, pectin, breast milk, polyphenols, clinical application
- MeSH terms
- Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Gastrointestinal Diseases, Humans, Probiotics, Prebiotics
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review