Probiotic supplements found in drugstores nationwide contain an assortment of microbes sold for specific health purposes despite limited understanding of the microbes' connections to their marketed use, new University of Virginia School of Medicine research reveals. But the scientists have assembled sophisticated computer models that could lead to more effective products to shape our microbiomes to improve health.
UVA researchers led by Jason Papin, Ph.D., analyzed more than 350 over-the-counter probiotics sold at the three largest pharmacy chains in the United States—CVS, Walgreens and Walmart. Those 352 products were found to contain, collectively, only 36 unique species of bacteria. The most common species were forms of Lactobacillus, a type of bacteria commonly found in yogurt. The study is published in the journal Nature Microbiology.
More than half the products contained only one probiotic species. The products with the most unique species topped out at 17. Some brands maintained a consistent number of bacterial strains across products, while others did not.
Based on their analysis, the scientists concluded that there was no real consistency in the combination of species used to support gut health, vaginal health or other health claims.
