Active Ingredient Lactobacillus Acidophilus

lactobacilli are bacteria that normally live in the human small intestine and vagina. lactobacillus acidophilus is generally considered to be beneficial because it produces vitamin k, lactase, and anti-microbial substances such as acidolin, acidolphilin, lactocidin, and bacteriocin. multiple human trials report benefits of lactobacillus acidophilus for bacterial vaginosis. other medicinal uses of lactobacillus acidophilus are not sufficiently studied to form clear conclusions.

Source:

medlineplus herbs and supplements: lactobacillus acidophilus

Medical Condition	Uses based on scientific evidence	Grade*
allergy unspecified not elsewhere classified	a small study was conducted to evaluate the effects of lactobacillus acidophilus strain l-92 (l-92) on the symptoms of japanese cedar pollen allergy. further research is needed before a decision can be made.	c
asthma	there is limited research in this area with unclear results.	c
candidiasis	lactobacillus acidophilus taken by mouth or as a vaginal suppository has not been adequately assessed for the prevention or treatment of vaginal yeast infections. more research is needed in this area a before a strong conclusion can be drawn.	c
diarrhea	a small amount of human research suggests that lactobacillus acidophilus may not be effective when used to prevent diarrhea in travelers or in people taking antibiotics, but results are mixed. several studies report that the related species, lactobacillus gg, may be helpful for the prevention of diarrhea in children and travelers. additional study is needed in these areas before a firm conclusion can be drawn.	c
diarrhea	a small amount of research in children, using different forms of acidophilus, reports no improvement in diarrhea. future studies should use a viable lactobacillus acidophilus culture to assess effects on diarrhea. lactobacillus gg, a different species, is suggested by multiple human studies to be a safe and effective treatment for diarrhea in otherwise healthy infants and children. lactobacillus acidophilus may aid in the management of chronic or persistent diarrhea,	c
disorders involving the immune mechanism	early studies fail to show consistent evidence of benefit of lactobacillus acidophilus in immunomodulation. additional studies are needed.	c
disorders relating to other preterm infants	early studies suggest a potential benefit of lactobacillus acidophilus for prevention of premature birth. more studies are needed to clarify this relationship.	c
helicobacter pylori (h. pylori) infection	early studies in humans suggest a potential benefit of lactobacillus acidophilus in this condition. more large, high-quality studies are needed to understand this relationship.	c
hepatic coma	there is limited study in this area with mixed results.	c
intestinal disaccharidase deficiencies and disaccharide malabsorption	there is conflicting information from several human studies as to whether using lactobacillus acidophilus by mouth improves digestion of lactose. more research is needed in this area a before a conclusion can be drawn.	c
irritable bowel syndrome	human studies report mixed results in the improvement of bowel symptoms after taking lactobacillus acidophilus by mouth.	c
malignant neoplasm of female breast	early studies in humans have failed to show a consistent benefit of lactobacillus acidophilus in breast cancer. further studies are needed.	c
necrotizing enterocolitis in newborn	one human study using lactobacillus acidophilus in combination with another bacterium ( bifidobacterium infantis ) in infants reported fewer cases of necrotizing enterocolitis (severe inflammation of the gut), and no complications related to treatment. additional research is necessary in this area before a conclusion can be drawn.	c
other and unspecified noninfectious gastroenteritis and colitis	early studies fail to show a benefit of lactobacillus acidophilus in this condition. more high-quality studies are needed.	c
other and unspecified noninfectious gastroenteritis and colitis	early studies in humans have failed to show a benefit of lactobacillus acidophilus in this condition. more studies are needed.	c
other atopic dermatitis and related conditions	there is currently not enough evidence to suggest a benefit of lactobacillus acidophilus for this condition.	c
other disorders of intestine	early studies suggest potential benefit of adjunct therapy with lactobacillus acidophilus in this condition. additional high-quality studies are needed.	c
pure hypercholesterolemia	there is conflicting information from several human studies regarding the effects of lactobacillus acidophilus- enriched dairy products on lowering blood levels of total cholesterol or low-density lipoprotein ("bad cholesterol").	c

*Key to grades
A: Strong scientific evidence for this use;
B: Good scientific evidence for this use;
C: Unclear scientific evidence for this use;
D: Fair scientific evidence against this use;
F: Strong scientific evidence against this use.