대한약국학회

Probiotics are live microorganisms, which confer health benefit on the host when they are administered in adequate amounts. Since they are known to enhance intestinal immunity and exhibit anti-inflammatory effects, they have been considered for inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Meta-analyses that evaluated the efficacy of probiotics in inducing and maintaining remission in ulcerative colitis demonstrated mixed results with low evidence. There are only few studies conducted for Crohn’s disease, which showed ineffectiveness of probiotics in inducing and maintaining remission. It is difficult to clearly define the role of probiotics in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease due to lack of high-quality studies. Therefore, more studies are needed at this time.