Abstract
Lactobacillus casei YIT 9029 (Shirota strain), a popular strain of probiotics, can survive within the intestine, affect the intestinal microflora and produce metabolites, resulting in the regulation of intestinal functions. This probiotic strain also modulates the host immune system and exerts health benefits. L. casei YIT 9029 is one of the pioneer strains for the application in controlling allergy, in addition to reducing a cancer risk and restoring NK cell activity. This review outlines a series of studies showing that the improvement of Th1/Th2 balance is one of the critical anti-allergic mechanism of probiotics, and also describes the clinical effects of L. casei YIT 9029-containing fermented milk in patients with pollen allergy.
