Do Probiotics Permanently Colonise the Gut?

Check out this answer from Consensus:

While probiotics can temporarily colonize the gut and confer health benefits, their ability to establish permanent residence is limited. Factors such as host-specific microbiome features, dietary components, and environmental conditions play crucial roles in determining the persistence of probiotics. Continuous administration and personalized approaches may be necessary to maximize the health benefits of probiotics. Further research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms of probiotic colonization and develop strategies for enhancing their long-term engraftment in the gut.

Probiotics, defined as live microorganisms that confer health benefits to the host when administered in adequate amounts, have garnered significant attention for their potential to modulate gut microbiota and improve health outcomes. However, a critical question remains: do probiotics permanently colonize the gut? This article explores the current understanding of probiotic colonization, the factors influencing their persistence, and the implications for health.

Probiotic Colonization: Temporary or Permanent?

Research indicates that the colonization of probiotics in the gut can be transient rather than permanent. Probiotics such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium are often administered to enhance gut health, but their ability to stably engraft in the gut varies. Some studies suggest that while probiotics can survive gastrointestinal passage and temporarily colonize the gut, they do not necessarily establish long-term residence1 4 5.

Factors Influencing Probiotic Colonization

Host and Microbiome Features

The host’s unique microbiome and physiological conditions play a significant role in determining the colonization efficacy of probiotics. Personalized gut mucosal colonization resistance, influenced by individual-specific microbiome features, can limit the universal and persistent impact of probiotics2. This suggests that probiotic colonization is highly individualized and may require tailored approaches for effective engraftment.

Dietary Components and Prebiotics

Dietary components, including prebiotics, can influence the colonization and activity of probiotics. Prebiotics are non-digestible food ingredients that selectively stimulate the growth and activity of beneficial bacteria already present in the colon. The combination of probiotics and prebiotics, known as synbiotics, has shown promise in enhancing the colonization and health benefits of probiotics4 6 7.

Environmental and Metabolic Interactions

The gut environment, including factors such as gastric acidity and bile salts, can impact the survival and colonization of probiotics. Additionally, metabolic interactions among ingested strains and the existing microbiota can influence the persistence of probiotics in the gut1 5.

Health Implications of Probiotic Colonization

Modulation of Gut Microbiota

Probiotics can modulate the gut microbiota by increasing the abundance of beneficial bacteria and reducing harmful bacteria. This modulation can lead to improved gut barrier function, reduced inflammation, and enhanced metabolic activity3 8 9.

Transient vs. Continuous Administration

Given the transient nature of probiotic colonization, continuous administration may be necessary to maintain their beneficial effects. Studies have shown that probiotics can pass through the gut and exert their effects without permanent colonization, suggesting that regular intake is required for sustained benefits5 10.

 

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Do probiotics permanently colonise the gut?

Tine Licht has answered Unlikely

An expert from Technical University of Denmark in Microbiology, Microbiome

The answer to this depends on several things; including (i) what is meant by ‘probiotics’, (ii) what is meant by ‘colonise’, and (iii) which kind of gut (e.g. child or adult, healthy or diseased) are we talking about?

If the question is whether the typical commercially available probiotics, often containing strains of Lactobacillus and/or Bifidobacterium will permanently establish and proliferate in the gut of healthy adults after consumption, the answer is that this is highly unlikely.

Actually, it is quite difficult to get new strains to establish in a healthy bacterial gut community – Which is a good thing because it means that the healthy community is robust and difficult to alter. Several studies show that after consumption of probiotics, one can (not surprisingly) measure that they they come out again with faeces, but they are eliminated from the gut after a short period.

That being said, permanent colonisation is not necessarily a prerequisite for the probiotics to have a relevant effect. Even dead bacteria may induce specific responses in a host.

Next generation probiotics, based on other groups of bacteria than the currently applied lactic acid bacteria, are currently being developed and might be able to colonise more efficiently. Also, in a gut with an incomplete bacterial community, for example that of a newborn child, or of a patient treated with antibiotics, probitic strains are more likely to establish for a longer period.

 

Do probiotics permanently colonise the gut?

Arthur C Ouwehand has answered Unlikely

An expert from DuPont Nutrition and Health in Microbiology

While there are some odd cases where a certain probiotic strain has been identified in one or two subjects of a large number of people consuming the strain. This is the rare exception that confirms the rule. It is difficult for a an incoming microbe to establish itself in a fully inhabited environment. Let’s be grateful for that; it also makes it difficult for pathogens to establish themselves.

 

Do probiotics permanently colonise the gut?

Hannah Wardill has answered Unlikely

An expert from University of Adelaide in Gastroenterology, Microbiome

Like the other experts have commented here, assuming you mean commercially available probiotic formulations in a fairly ‘normal’ clinical scenario, the answer is no. Probiotics usually colonise the gut transiently, meaning if you want the “benefits” to stick around, you need to keep taking the capsules. Importantly, the term “benefits” must be approached with caution, as there is limited evidence to support any benefits of probiotic use in healthy people, and varied data to support them across other clinical scenarios e.g. inflammatory bowel disease. A balanced diet full of fibre is the best to support the long term health of your gut microbes 🙂

 

Do probiotics permanently colonise the gut?

Anders Abildgaard has answered Unlikely

An expert from Aarhus University in Microbiome

In most cases with commercially available probiotics: no. But it depends on the probiotic strains and the cohabiting microbiota.

 

Do probiotics permanently colonise the gut?

Dan Waitzberg has answered Likely

An expert from University of Sao Paulo in Nutrition

This will depend on the Probiotic type. Some will stay for months after interruption others will stay for about a week.

 

Do probiotics permanently colonise the gut?

Toni Gabaldon has answered Unlikely

An expert from Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Microbiome, Genomics, Microbiology, Bioinformatics

In any ecological niche, the arrival of a new species, even in massive amounts, does not guarantees long-term colonization. This is also true for microbial ecosystems, particularly when they are diverse and in an established equilibrium. Research, analyzing the gut of persons taking probiotics have shown that strains in probiotics are usually not persisting colonizers of the gut microbiota. In some persons this can happen, and this may be related to the existence of an already low diversity or unbalanced ecosystem, given the probiotic a change to colonize the niche. This situation can often happen after taking antibiotics. In such sircumstances probiotics may establish themselves more easily, although this may also retard the re-colonization of the normal microbiota.

 

Do probiotics permanently colonise the gut?

Juan Arques has answered Uncertain

An expert from INIA Spain in Microbiology, Food Science, Gastroenterology

The question is too generalist. Can all fishes permanently live in the Loch Ness? The variety of potential probiotic species is huge, moreover is strain dependent. So, it is imposible to answer this question.

 

Do probiotics permanently colonise the gut?

Dr. Ashok Kumar Pattanaik has answered Unlikely

An expert from Indian Veterinary Research Institute in Animal Production, Nutrition, Health

My experience while working on allochthonous probiotics (a probiotic bacteria, derived from one species and fed to a different species; for example, a diary-origin bacteria used in the diet of human or dog or pig) was that the probiotic-effects disappears within a fortnight of its withdrawal from the diet, indirectly proving that it does not colonize permanently.

However, I cannot say the same about the autochthonous probiotics (a probiotic bacteria, derived and used in the same species; for example, a human-origin bacteria used in the diet of dogs or fish).

 

Do probiotics permanently colonise the gut?

Bernhard Paetzold has answered Near Certain

An expert from S-Biomedic in Microbiome

The difficulty of this question is around what is a Probiotic. There is clearly science that applied bacterial strains can colonize long term the gut. However at the same time we see that not every strain that we swallow (including gut bacterial species) will colonize. See this publication for another interesting view on this.

If the question is will a random pill containing some Lacto or bifido bacteria colonize my gut. The answer is “Uncertain”

If the question if a bacteria in yoguhrt with Probiotics will colonise the gut the answer is: Unlikely

In Summary: It will depend on the exact strain of probiotic, its way of application/ingestion and the existing microbiome of the host whether a bacterial strain will permanently colonise the gut.

 

Do probiotics permanently colonise the gut?

Bruno Pot has answered Unlikely

An expert from Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Microbiology

Colonization time will indeed depend on the strain and the age of the consumer. Permanent colonization (life-time long) is extremely unlikely and is also not wanted for probiotics (for safety reasons, explained in the paper below). You are likely to find other answers in this paper as well: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3023597/.

 

Do probiotics permanently colonise the gut?

Philippe Langella has answered Unlikely

An expert from Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in Microbiology

My feeling is that by definition, the traditional probiotics as lactobacilli or bifidobacteria will not colonize the gut of an healthy volunteer in which they will only transit. Such probiotics could persist in the gut between 2-3 days for lactobacilli and 5-7 days for bifidobacteria but they won’t colonize the gut. That’s why the probiotics should be taken daily as they won’t persist.

Since 10 years, the probiotics domain has been enlarged to next generation probiotics (NGps) which are commensal bacteria identified on the basis of human clinical data. Such NGPs have more chance to colonize that the traditional probiotics but event in this case, this possible colonization willl depend on the quality of the gut environment: a good healthy gut environment won’t facilitate a possible colonization whereas a more dysbiotic one will facilitate such event.