Probiotics in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an umbrella term which describes the chronic inflammatory diseases of the intestinal tract. Some of the prominent inflammatory diseases include ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and indeterminate colitis. These diseases are polygenic disorders influenced by patients’ genetic background, environmental factors, intestinal microbiota, defects in gut barrier function, and dysregulated immune stimuli. These diseases have some complications in common, while other complications are specific to a particular disorder. Experimental and clinical evidences suggest that probiotics and fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) can minimize intestinal inflammation by restoring intestinal microbial homeostasis. Probiotics in combination with conventional anti-inflammatory pharmaceuticals are more effective against intestinal inflammatory diseases.