Last month, we announced the development of 10 new species-specific probiotic monographs, highlighting bifidobacteria. This month, we’re diving into the Lactobacillus genus, and we have an exciting new CE course to announce.
Back in 2020, the Lactobacillus genus was reclassified into 25 different genera. The classification of the most commonly known species, Lactobacillus acidophilus, hasn’t changed. But several others now have new names, including Lacticaseibacillus casei (formerly Lactobacillus casei), Lacticaseibacillus paracasei (formerly Lactobacillus paracasei), and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (formerly Lactobacillus plantarum). Some products on the market continue to label reclassified species under the Lactobacillus genus. Help patients understand these changes – there may be some confusion with product labels for some time.
While important, there’s more to learn beyond the new names. Similar to bifidobacteria, the rapidly expanding data on probiotics are providing insight into how some species might benefit certain conditions more than others. For example, taking L. acidophilus seems to reduce the risk of diarrhea from antibiotics, but taking L. plantarum doesn’t seem to help. And L. plantarum might help treat eczema, but L. acidophilus and L. casei have only been used in combination with other species. It’s not clear if taking either of them alone will help. Reinforce to patients that there is a lot of variability between products and the conditions for which they might be helpful. We’ll continue this probiotics series again next month, where we’ll explore the world of postbiotics.
In addition to our new species-specific monographs, don’t miss our new, comprehensive CE Course – Microbiome Medley: Pre-, Pro-, and Postbiotics. This 90-minute course offers 1.5 hours of CE credit and will help providers develop a better knowledge base for counseling patients on the use of prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics.
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