Saccharomyces boulardii: What Makes It Tick as Successful Probiotic?
Open accessAbstract
Saccharomyces boulardii is a probiotic yeast often used for the treatment of GI tract disorders such as diarrhea symptoms. It is genetically close to the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its classification as a distinct species or a S. cerevisiae variant has long been discussed. Here, we review the main genetic divergencies between S. boulardii and S. cerevisiae as a strategy to uncover the ability to adapt to the host physiological conditions by the probiotic. S. boulardii does possess discernible phenotypic traits and physiological properties that underlie its success as probiotic, such as optimal growth temperature, resistance to the gastric environment and viability at low pH. Its probiotic activity has been elucidated as a conjunction of multiple pathways, ranging from improvement of gut barrier function, pathogen competitive exclusion, production of antimicrobial peptides, immune modulation, and trophic effects. This review summarizes the participation of S. boulardii in these mechanisms and the multifactorial nature by which this yeast modulates the host microbiome and intestinal function.
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Saccharomyces strains have a higher survival capacity when passing through the digestive tract compared with other probiotics, help maintain the balance of the normal microflora of the intestinal tract, and have immunomodulatory effects.
“This is because, when passing through the digestive tract, Saccharomyces strains have a higher survival capacity compared with the other probiotics. Also, these strains help to maintain the balance of the normal microflora of the intestinal tract and have immunomodulatory effects, acting to fine-tune immunological pathways during pathogenic infections or chronic diseases [32,33,34].”
From The Potential Impact of Probiotics on Human Health: An Update on Their Health-Promoting Properties (2024) · cites this paper as [34]
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References 100 · Cited by 327
- Authors
- Pais, P., Almeida, V., Yılmaz, M., & Teixeira, M. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Lisbon (PT)
- Corresponding author
- Teixeira, Miguel C.
- Venue
- Journal of Fungi
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2020-06-04
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 78
- ISSN
- 2309-608X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7344949
- OpenAlex
- W3033340276
- Cited by
- 327
- References
- 100
- Citations by year
- 2026: 67 · 2025: 67 · 2024: 59 · 2023: 56 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 5
- FWCI
- 2.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- dx.doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Fungi (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (PTDC/BII-BIO/28216/2017, UIDB/04565/2020)
- Programa Operacional Regional de Lisboa 2020 (LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-022231, LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-007317)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Yeasts and Rust Fungi Studies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Keywords
- Saccharomyces boulardii, probiotics, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, genetic divergence, host adaptation, gastric acid resistance, intestinal barrier, antimicrobial peptides, immunomodulation, trophic effects, host microbiome, intestinal function, diarrhea
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