Colonization and immunomodulation by Lactobacillus reuteri ATCC 55730 in the human gastrointestinal tract.

Lactobacillus reuteri ATCC 55730 is a probiotic (health-promoting) bacterium widely used as a dietary supplement. This study was designed to examine local colonization of the human gastrointestinal mucosa after dietary supplementation with L. reuteri ATCC 55730 and to determine subsequent immune responses at the colonized sites.

Supplementation of infant formula with the probiotic lactobacillus reuteri and zinc: impact on enteric infection and nutrition in infant rhesus monkeys.

Unlabelled: Gut colonization by may have beneficial effects on infant health or capacity to resist infectious disease. Zinc supplementation has also been proposed to increase infants' resistance to disease; however, many studies have yielded conflicting results.

Objectives: To study effects of probiotic supplementation of infant formula (with or without supplemental zinc) on nutritional status, gut colonization and the ability to resist gastrointestinal infection in an infant rhesus monkey model.