Pharmacist Recommendations on the Use of Probiotics

S obzirom na porast broja znanstvenih dokaza o povezanosti poremećaja sastava crijevne mikroflore i pojavnosti nekih sistemskih oboljenja ili oboljenja pojedinih organskih sustava, probiotici se danas sve više koriste u prevenciji ili liječenju različitih patofizioloških stanja. Savjetovanje pacijenata o racionalnoj primjeni probiotika bitno je otežano zbog niza čimbenika, prvenstveno zbog nedostatka jasnih dokaza o učinkovitosti, smjernica o odabiru vrste i doze preparata te trajanju suplementacije kod pojedinih oboljenja. Dodatan problem stvara sve veći broj preparata na tržištu, nedosljednosti u deklariranju pojedinih probiotičkih sojeva i vrsta te varijabilna kvaliteta suplemenata. Stoga je cilj ovog rada sažeti najnovija saznanja o učinkovitosti primjene probiotika u pojedinim indikacijama kako bi se olakšalo savjetovanje pacijenata u svakodnevnoj ljekarničkoj praksi.A growing body of scientific evidence has linked disorders of the gut microbiota with the occurrence of certain systemic diseases or diseases of particular organ systems. As a result, probiotics are nowadays increasingly used as dietary supplements in the prevention or treatment of various clinical conditions. Adequate patient counselling on the use of probiotics is considerably hampered by several factors, primarily the low level of evidence on efficacy and the lack of clear guidelines on the type and dose of the probiotic, as well as on the duration of supplementation with regard to specific diseases. An additional problem is the increasing number of preparations available on the market, inconsistencies in the declaration of certain probiotic strains and species, and the variable quality of supplements. The aim of this paper is to summarize the latest findings on the efficacy of probiotics in particular indications in order to facilitate patient counselling in day-to-day pharmacy practice