ReviewGut microbes
Safety assessment of probiotics for human use.
Review in Gut microbes. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 330 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
330 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 758 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy and safety of probiotic/synbiotic supplementation for overweight or obese children: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Pediatric research · 2026Pooled it
- Safety of One of the Most Commonly Used Probiotic Strains: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Reported Adverse Events.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2026Pooled it
- Natural products for the management of diarrhea: a systematic review of clinical efficacy, safety, and certainty of evidence.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Pooled it
- Encapsulation of Saccharomyces spp. for Use as Probiotic in Food and Feed: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2024Pooled it
- Probiotic effects on skin health: comprehensive visual analysis and perspectives.Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Pooled it
- Intestinal microbiome-targeted therapies improve liver function in alcohol-related liver disease by restoring bifidobacteria: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Pooled it
- The effects of probiotic administration on patients with prediabetes: a meta-analysis and systematic review.Journal of translational medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Trial
- Evaluation of probiotics' efficiency on cariogenic bacteria: randomized controlled clinical study.BMC oral health · 2024Trial
- Effect of probiotics on glycemic control and lipid profiles in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a randomized, double blind, controlled trial.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Trial
- Article
- Comprehensive safety evaluation of DW2009, a complex ofToxicology reports · 2026Article
- Genome-informed qPCR tracking revealed preferential persistence ofMicrobiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Postbiotics enhance immune competence in black rockfish (Sebastes schlegelii): linking innate immunity, apoptosis, and resistance to bacterial infection.Journal of animal science and biotechnology · 2026Article
- Isolation, Characterization and Molecular Identification of Putative Probiotic Bacteria From Red Tilapia Gut.Environmental microbiology reports · 2026Article
- Safety and Effectiveness of Probiotic Preparations: A Contemporary Review.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Genome-Guided Probiotic Mechanisms of Enterococcus hirae SMU2502: Wnt/β-catenin-Driven Intestinal Epithelial Proliferation and Protection Against Salmonella Infection.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2026Article
- Synergistic potential of probiotics and bacteriophages in combating multidrug-resistant microbial infections: A novel therapeutic strategy for the post-antibiotic era.New microbes and new infections · 2026Review
- Next-Generation Probiotics in Poultry: From Conventional Strains to Engineered and Synbiotic Approaches.Microorganisms · 2026Review
- Cheonggukjang-DerivedMetabolites · 2026Article
270 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 6 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The safety of probiotics is tied to their intended use, which includes consideration of potential vulnerability of the consumer or patient, dose and duration of consumption, and both the manner and frequency of administration. Unique to probiotics is that they are alive when administered, and unlike other food or drug ingredients, possess the potential for infectivity or in situ toxin production. Since numerous types of microbes are used as probiotics, safety is also intricately tied to the nature of the specific microbe being used. The presence of transferable antibiotic resistance genes, which comprises a theoretical risk of transfer to a less innocuous member of the gut microbial community, must also be considered. Genetic stability of the probiotic over time, deleterious metabolic activities, and the potential for pathogenicity or toxicogenicity must be assessed depending on the characteristics of the genus and species of the microbe being used. Immunological effects must be considered, especially in certain vulnerable populations, including infants with undeveloped immune function. A few reports about negative probiotic effects have surfaced, the significance of which would be better understood with more complete understanding of the mechanisms of probiotic interaction with the host and colonizing microbes. Use of readily available and low cost genomic sequencing technologies to assure the absence of genes of concern is advisable for candidate probiotic strains. The field of probiotic safety is characterized by the scarcity of studies specifically designed to assess safety contrasted with the long history of safe use of many of these microbes in foods.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.