Safety of probiotics: translocation and infection: Nutrition Reviews©, Vol. 66, No. 4
Abstract
The long history of safety has contributed to the acceptance of probiotics as a safe food adjunct. Consequently, many probiotic products and their applications have been granted GRAS (generally regarded as safe) status. However, this classification has been frequently generalized for all probiotic strains regardless of their application. Cases of probiotics from the genera Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Pediococcus, Enterococcus, and Bifidobacterium have been isolated from infection sites, leading to the postulation that these probiotics can translocate. Probiotic translocation is difficult to induce in healthy humans, and even if it does occur, detrimental effects are rare. Despite this, various reports have documented health-damaging effects of probiotic translocation in immunocompromised patients. Due to probiotics' high degree of safety and their morphological confusion with other pathogenic bacteria, they are often overlooked as contaminants and are least suspected as pathogens. However, the antibiotic resistance of some strains has increased the complexity of their eradication. Probiotic translocation and infection deserve further investigation and should become a facet of safety assessment so the negative effects of probiotics do not outweigh the benefits.
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Several independent meta-analyses concluded that elevated TMAO is prognostic for cardiovascular events or mortality, independent of renal function and cardiovascular comorbidities.
“Most recently, several independent meta-analyses arrived at similar conclusions of elevated TMAO being prognostic for cardiovascular events or mortality, independent of renal function and cardiovascular comorbidities206–208.”
From Dietary metabolism, the gut microbiome, and heart failure (2019) · cites this paper as [207]
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- Authors
- Liong, M.-T.
- Affiliations
- Universiti Sains Malaysia (MY)
- Corresponding author
- Liong, Min-Tze
- ORCID
- Liong, Min-Tze
- Venue
- Nutrition Reviews
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2008-03-26
- Volume
- 66
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 192-202
- ISSN
- 0029-6643 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2135866777
- Cited by
- 265
- References
- 67
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 2.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Nutrition Reviews (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Infant Nutrition and Health
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Keywords
- probiotics, probiotic safety, Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Pediococcus, Enterococcus, Bifidobacterium, immunocompromised patients, antibiotic resistance, food contaminants, GRAS status, safety assessment
- MeSH terms
- Bacterial Infections, Bifidobacterium, Humans, Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, Safety, Immunocompromised Host, Enterococcus, Infection Control, Risk Assessment, Bacterial Translocation, Probiotics
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