Gastritis produced by acetyl-salicylic acid (ASA) consumption is a common disorder worldwide. The use of probiotics has been proposed to ameliorate different gastrointestinal tract diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, etc. However, little attention has been paid to the use of probiotics in gastric disease. The health-promoting effects ascribed to probiotic strains or fermented foods arise not only from bacteria themselves but also from the metabolites produced during fermentation such as exopolysaccharides (EPS). These polymers have been claimed to modulate the immune response and to display anti-ulcer activities.
A research article to be published on April 7, 2010 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question.
The research indicate that the milk fermented with S. thermophilus CRL 1190 and/or its EPS was effective in the therapeutic treatment of chronic gastritis by modulating the immune response of the mice and by increasing the thickness of the gastric mucus gel layer. The fermented milk showed a similar protective effect to omeprazole. The application of this fermented milk and/or its EPS constitutes a potential natural alternative for the prev¬ention and treatment of ASA-associated gastric damage.
Reference: Rodríguez C, Medici M, Mozzi F, Font de Valdez G. Therapeutic effect of Streptococcus thermophilus CRL 1190-fermented milk on chronic gastritis. World J Gastroenterol 2010; 16(13): 1622-1630 http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/full/v16/i13/1622.htm
Correspondence to: Graciela Font de Valdez, Professor, Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos (CERELA)-CONICET, Chacabuco 145, San Miguel de Tucumán, 4000, Tucumán, Argentina. gfont@cerela.org.ar Telephone: +54-381-4310465 Fax: +54-381-4005600
About World Journal of Gastroenterology
World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H pylori infection and provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2008 IF: 2.081. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th day of every month. WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the name of China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.
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World Journal of Gastroenterology