2021 Volume 55 Issue 5 Pages 209-217
Studies on intestinal microbiota and the development of probiotics started only 100 to 150 years ago. Recently, a new method to analyze the intestinal microbiota using molecular biology techniques was developed and many novel findings have been reported.
We started applying a newly designed synbiotic therapy from 1997 for patients who required neonatal surgery. Controlling the intestinal microbiota by probiotics in neonates and infants is highly effective for maintaining the intestinal luminal environment and for promoting patient growth.
Fecal microbiota transplantation and combinations of several bacteria have been reported to effectively restore disorder of the intestinal microbiota.
Bifidobacterium, which becomes dominant in early infancy, plays important roles in establishing homeostasis of the intestinal luminal environment, and the complex community of different types of Bifidobacteria may be useful as a probiotic for neonates and infants who require surgery.
