CASE STUDY
www.culturellehcp.com
just prescribe antibiotics — they diagnose an infectious disease syndrome first, identifying a
particular bug. Then they treat the patient empirically, picking an antibiotic with a unique action
mechanism that targets the specific pathogen.” The same goes for probiotics, he says. How do
we know what works best for a particular indication? By taking the same steps as with any other
pharmacological intervention. “We analyze the data from well-designed clinical trials that ideally
have been replicated,” he explains. “Then, at some point, you have meta-analyses for a particular
strain.”
Another challenge Damianos points out is that because of the current regulatory environment,
there's no accountability for companies. “There have been numerous studies looking at this,”
he says. “One took 16 commercially available probiotics off the shelf that claimed to contain
some sort of Bifidobacterium.” The result? Only a single probiotic out of the 16 contained what
it claimed. That's one of the reasons he, Pauley, and Wischmeyer all recommend Culturelle®
probiotics. “L. rhamnosus GG is the best studied probiotic strain,” he says. “And Culturelle as a
company adheres to rigorous FDA-level standards so people — and doctors — can be confident in
the stability and purity.”
LOOKING AHEAD — WHAT MORE CAN WE LEARN
All three would like to see more robust and broader-ranging clinical trials. “There's a much greater
appreciation today for the gut-brain axis and a recognition of the microbiome's impact outside of
uniquely gastrointestinal disorders,” says Damianos. “So now we're seeing people in dermatology,
rheumatology, and neurology studying the importance of gut health.”
“Forty years ago, we really didn't understand the interaction between gut health and all these
conditions,” says Pauley. “But today, we know how important a healthy gut is to our overall health.”
She feels there could be something to learn about the role of probiotics in treating oral thrush.
“It isn't only babies who get oral thrush. It happens to adults — especially those undergoing cancer
treatments, and I'd love to see a placebo-controlled trial studying that,” she says.
Wischmeyer agrees, saying he thinks there's an opportunity to look at preventing pandemic
viruses in particular. “COVID is still a big issue, and there are a lot of probiotic studies in animals
that indicate a normal microbiome can make vaccines for viruses more effective. I think we need
to look at how combining probiotics with vaccines in the winter can help prevent these pandemic
infections.”
FIND OUT MORE
Visit the refreshed Culturelle® probiotics healthcare professional website for more information and
resources relating to the portfolio.
PubMed is a good resource for keeping up-to-date on research in the field. In addition, AEProbio
publishes The Clinical Guide to Probiotic Products each year, which details probiotic strains and
related applications.
Culturelle® probiotics: https://culturellehcp.com/
PubMed: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
The Clinical Guide to Probiotic Products: usprobioticguide.com
“
The thing to
understand
is that not all
probiotics are
the same ... You
need to know
you’re using the
right one for the
right condition.”
Rose Pauley, APRN
Pediatric Gastroenterology
~ Boys Town National
Research Hospital
Culturelle® is a trademark of DSM.