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Why don't probiotics work?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2019

Bert Jan Korte
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands. b.j.korte@students.uu.nl
S. Mechiel Korte
Affiliation:
Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS), Utrecht University, Faculty of Science, 3584 CG, Utrecht, The Netherlands. s.m.korte@uu.nl Department of Biopsychology, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, D-44780, Bochum, Germany. sijmen.korte@rub.de

Abstract

The conclusions reached by Hooks et al. urge the field to investigate the complex multipathway interactions between the microbiome and the gut-brain axis to understand the potential causal relationships involved. Claims in the field of microbiota-gut-brain research remain problematic without appropriate controls and adequate statistical power. A crucial question that follows from the authors' extensive review is: “Why don't probiotics work?”

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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