ArticleLetters in applied microbiology2014
Effects of probiotic Lactobacillus brevis KB290 on incidence of influenza infection among schoolchildren: an open-label pilot study.
Article in Letters in applied microbiology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The Intriguing Connection Between the Gut and Lung Microbiomes.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Pooled it
- The effect of probiotics on respiratory tract infection with special emphasis on COVID-19: Systemic review 2010-20.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Role of Probiotics in Stimulating the Immune System in Viral Respiratory Tract Infections: A Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2020Pooled it
- Effects of Heat-KilledNutrients · 2021Trial
- Alterations of intestinal flora and the effects of probiotics in children with recurrent respiratory tract infection.World journal of pediatrics : WJP · 2019Trial
- Daily intake of fermented milk with Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota reduces the incidence and duration of upper respiratory tract infections in healthy middle-aged office workers.European journal of nutrition · 2017Trial
- Human milk and infant formula influence lactobacilli metabolism in a species-specific manner.NPJ science of food · 2026Article
- Maternal probiotic exposure enhances CD8 T cell protective neonatal immunity and modulates offspring metabolome to control influenza virus infection.Gut microbes · 2025Article
- Optimization of Chemical Defined Medium forEngineering in life sciences · 2025Article
- Exploring the Therapeutic Landscape of Probiotics in Enteric and Respiratory Viral Infections.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2025Review
- Microbiota and Immunity during Respiratory Infections: Lung and Gut Affair.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- The Potential of Probiotics as Ingestible Adjuvants and Immune Modulators for Antiviral Immunity and Management of SARS-CoV-2 Infection and COVID-19.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Effect of probiotics as an immune modulator for the management of COVID-19.Archives of microbiology · 2023Article
- Can Probiotics, ParticularlyBiology · 2023Review
- Article
- D- and l-amino acid concentrations in culture broth ofBiochemistry and biophysics reports · 2021Article
- Probiotics in Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19: Current Perspective and Future Prospects.Archives of medical research · 2021Review
- Oral probiotics in coronavirus disease 2019: connecting the gut-lung axis to viral pathogenesis, inflammation, secondary infection and clinical trials.New microbes and new infections · 2021Article
- Probiotic lactobacilli: Can be a remediating supplement for pandemic COVID-19. A review.Journal of King Saud University. Science · 2021Review
- Gut Microbiota Modulation as a Potential Target for the Treatment of Lung Infections.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2021Review
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
unlabelledWe investigated the efficacy of dietary consumption of Lactobacillus brevis KB290 (KB290) against influenza in humans by a preliminary intervention study on elementary schoolchildren, using a commercially available probiotic drink. Subjects were divided into Groups A and B, and an open-label, parallel-group trial was conducted in two 8-week periods at a 1-month interval in winter 2013/2014. Group A was provided with a bottle of the test drink containing KB290 (about 6 billion colony-forming units) every school day in the first period and had no treatment in the second period, and vice versa for Group B. Epidemic influenza was not observed during the first period and only two of 1783 subjects were diagnosed. In the second period, the incidence of influenza in Groups A (no treatment) and B (provided the test drink) was 23·9 and 15·7%, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0·001). The reduction in the incidence of influenza by KB290 consumption was especially remarkable in unvaccinated individuals. This is believed to be the first study to show a probiotic food reducing the incidence of influenza in schoolchildren, although further studies are needed to confirm the effectiveness of the probiotic strain KB290. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: We demonstrated a reduction in the incidence of influenza in 1089 schoolchildren by continual intake of a probiotic drink containing Lactobacillus brevis KB290 (KB290), isolated from a traditional Japanese pickle 'Suguki'. The effect was especially evident in subjects not inoculated with influenza vaccine. This is believed to be the first report to show reduced incidence of influenza in schoolchildren taking a probiotic food. Further studies are needed to confirm the effectiveness of the probiotic strain KB290, which may be useful in the development of potential anti-influenza agents derived from common foods.
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