The Mechanism and Clinical Application of Probiotics in the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, T12 K8AF, Ireland

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Abstract

Although traditional treatment methods such as amino-salicylic acid and steroid hormones have certain therapeutic effects, they still have problems like significant individual differences, obvious side effects of immunosuppression, and inability to fundamentally improve the imbalance of the microbiota. Consequently, the underlying processes of probiotics in the therapy of IBD and the development of their therapeutic application are thoroughly reviewed in this study. Research has found that the anti-inflammatory effect of probiotics may involve multiple mechanisms. Probiotics have been demonstrated to reduce bowel inflammation in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) who are asymptomatic. However, probiotic treatment for IBD still faces challenges nowadays. The mechanisms remain unclarified, significant differences exist in efficacy between different strains, and there is a lack of a unified clinical treatment plan. Future research needs to further clarify the molecular interaction mechanism between probiotics and the host immune system, to conduct huge-scale, double-blind, randomly assigned regulated examinations, and to explore the combined application strategies of probiotics with existing treatment methods. This article summarizes advances in probiotic therapy for IBD through intestinal flora regulation, immune regulation and barrier function.