Correction: The Probiotic Mixture VSL#3 Accelerates Gastric Ulcer Healing by Stimulating Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Comment on: "Search and Selection of Probiotics that Improve Mucositis Symptoms in Oncologic Patients: A Systematic Review. 2019, , 2322".

I have read the systematic review by Picò et al [...

The Unregulated Probiotic Market.

Background & Aims: This narrative review provides an overview of the current regulation of probiotics, with a focus on those used for the dietary management of medical conditions (Medical Foods).

Findings: The probiotic market has grown rapidly, both for foods and supplements intended to enhance wellness in healthy individuals, and for preparations for the dietary management of disease. Regulation of probiotics varies between regions.

Efficacy and Safety of a Multistrain Probiotic Formulation Depends from Manufacturing.

Background: Variability in probiotics manufacturing may affect their properties, with potential implications for their efficacy and safety. This is of particular concern with probiotic products destined for use in patients with serious medical conditions, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The purpose of the study was to carry out a series of experiments comparing the properties of the US-made probiotic formulation originally commercialized under the brand name VSL#3, with those of the Italian-made formulation now commercialized under the same name.

The probiotic mixture VSL#3 accelerates gastric ulcer healing by stimulating vascular endothelial growth factor.

Studies assessing the effect and mechanism of probiotics on diseases of the upper gastrointestinal tract (GI) including gastric ulcers are limited despite extensive work and promising results of this therapeutic option for other GI diseases. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms by which the probiotic mixture VSL#3 (a mixture of eight probiotic bacteria including Lactobacilli, Bifidobacteria and Streptococcus species) heals acetic acid induced gastric ulcer in rats. VSL#3 was administered orally at low (6 × 10(9) bacteria) or high (1.

Immunoregulatory mechanisms underlying prevention of colitis-associated colorectal cancer by probiotic bacteria.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) increases the risk of colorectal cancer. Probiotic bacteria produce immunoregulatory metabolites in vitro such as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a polyunsaturated fatty acid with potent anti-carcinogenic effects. This study aimed to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the efficacy of probiotic bacteria in mouse models of cancer.

Pretreatment with the probiotic VSL#3 delays transition from inflammation to dysplasia in a rat model of colitis-associated cancer.

Evidence supports involvement of microflora in the transition of chronic inflammation to neoplasia. We investigated the protective efficacy of the probiotic VSL#3 in a model of colitis-associated colorectal cancer. Chronic colitis was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats by administration of trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS), followed 6 wk later by systemic reactivation.

Probiotic sonicates selectively induce mucosal immune cells apoptosis through ceramide generation via neutral sphingomyelinase.

Background: Probiotics appear to be beneficial in inflammatory bowel disease, but their mechanism of action is incompletely understood. We investigated whether probiotic-derived sphingomyelinase mediates this beneficial effect.

Methodology/principal Findings: Neutral sphingomyelinase (NSMase) activity was measured in sonicates of the probiotic L.

Diet, but not oral probiotics, effectively reduces urinary oxalate excretion and calcium oxalate supersaturation.

We examined the effect of a controlled diet and two probiotic preparations on urinary oxalate excretion, a risk factor for calcium oxalate kidney stone formation, in patients with mild hyperoxaluria. Patients were randomized to a placebo, a probiotic, or a synbiotic preparation. This tested whether these probiotic preparations can increase oxalate metabolism in the intestine and/or decrease oxalate absorption from the gut.

Rupture of the spleen after colonoscopy: a life-threatening complication.

During colonoscopy, the risk of injuring the spleen or other viscera except the colon is negligible. We report here a patient in whom spleen rupture did complicate the very early course of colonoscopy, but this remains an extremely rare complication with no more than 50 cases so far described. Diagnosis may be difficult, and the risk of spleen rupture seems to be greatest within 24 hours of colonoscopy.

Probiotic preparation has the capacity to hydrolyze proteins responsible for wheat allergy.

This study was aimed at showing the capacity of probiotic VSL#3 to hydrolyze wheat flour allergens. Hydrolysis was investigated either by the use of baker's yeast bread treated with digestive enzymes and VSL#3, an experimental design that mimicked the activity of probiotics during gut colonization, or by the use of VSL#3 as a starter for dough fermentation, an experimental design that mimicked the predigestion of wheat flour proteins during food processing. Albumins, globulins, and gliadins extracted from wheat flour and chemically acidified and started dough and total proteins extracted from breads were analyzed by immunoblotting with pooled sera from patients with an allergy to wheat.