***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: A double-blind trial was conducted in 138 patients with superficial transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder following transurethral resection to evaluate the prophylaxis of recurrence by an oral Lactobacillus casei preparation ( BLP ) . Patients were stratified into the following 3 subgroups : ( A ) with primary multiple tumors ; ( B ) with recurrent single tumors , and ( C ) with recurrent multiple tumors . In each group , patients were r and omly allocated to receive BLP or placebo . BLP showed a better prophylactic effect in subgroups A and B than placebo , whereas no significant difference was observed in subgroup C. Cox multivariate analysis showed that the outcome with BLP  was significantly better than with placebo ( p = 0.01 ) . Slight and tolerable adverse reactions occurred in 3 patients receiving BLP and in 3 of the placebo-treated patients . Oral administration of BLP was thus safe and effective for preventing recurrence of superficial bladder cancer Bacterial infections frequently occur early after liver transplantation . We recently reported significant progress with a synbiotic composition , consisting of one lactic acid bacteria ( LAB ) and one fiber , which reduced the infection rate from 48 % ( with selective bowel decontamination ) to 13 % . Now , our aim is to study if a combination of different LAB and fibers would further improve outcome Objective . To investigate the effect of 2 different species of probiotics in preventing infections in infants attending child care centers . Methods . A double-blind , placebo-controlled , r and omized trial was conducted from December 1 , 2000 , to September 30 , 2002 , at 14 child care centers in the Beer-Sheva area of Israel in healthy term infants 4 to 10 months old . Infants were assigned r and omly to formula supplemented with Bifidobacterium lactis ( BB-12 ) , Lactobacillus reuteri ( American Type Culture Collection 55730 ) , or no probiotics . Duration of feeding , including follow-up , for each participant was 12 weeks . All infants were fed only the assigned formula and were not breastfed due to parental decision before recruitment to the study . Probiotic or prebiotic food products or supplements were not allowed . Main outcome measures were number of days and number of episodes with fever ( > 38 ° C ) and number of days and number of episodes with diarrhea or respiratory illness . Results . Participants ( n = 201 ) were similar regarding gestational age , birth weight , gender , and previous breastfeeding . The controls ( n = 60 ) , compared with those fed B lactis ( n = 73 ) or L reuteri ( n = 68 ) , had significantly more febrile episodes ( mean [ 95 % confidence interval ] : 0.41 [ 0.28–0.54 ] vs 0.27 [ 0.17–0.37 ] vs 0.11 [ 0.04–0.18 ] , respectively ) . The controls also had more diarrhea episodes ( 0.31 [ 0.22–0.40 ] vs 0.13 [ 0.05–0.21 ] vs 0.02 [ 0.01–0.05 ] , respectively ) and episodes of longer duration ( 0.59 [ 0.34–0.84 ] vs 0.37 [ 0.08–0.66 ] vs 0.15 [ 0.12–0.18 ] days , respectively ) . The L reuteri group , compared with BB-12 or controls , had a significant decrease of number of days with fever , clinic visits , child care absences , and antibiotic prescriptions . Rate and duration of respiratory illnesses did not differ significantly between groups . Conclusions . Child care infants fed a formula supplemented with L reuteri or B lactis had fewer and shorter episodes of diarrhea , with no effect on respiratory illnesses . These effects were more prominent with L reuteri , which was also the only supplement to improve additional morbidity parameters Objective : Patients undergoing pancreas resection carry several risk factors for nosocomial bacterial infections . Pre- and probiotics ( synbiotics ) are potentially useful for prevention of these infections . Summary Background Data : First trials in patients following major abdominal surgery including liver transplantation using one Lactobacillus ( LAB ) and one fiber showed significant reduction of infection rates and reduced length of antibiotic therapy compared with a control group . The present study was design ed to analyze whether a combination of different LAB and fibers would further improve outcome . Methods : A prospect i ve r and omized monocentric double-blind trial was undertaken in 80 patients following pylorus-preserving pancreatoduodenectomy ( PPPD ) . All patients received enteral nutrition immediately postoperatively . One group ( A ) received a composition of 4 LAB and 4 fibers , and another group ( B ) received placebo ( fibers only ) starting the day before surgery and continuing for 8 days . Thirty-day infection rate , length of hospital stay , duration of antibiotic therapy , noninfectious complications , and side effects were recorded . Results : The incidence of postoperative bacterial infections was significantly lower with LAB and fibers ( 12.5 % ) than with fibers only ( 40 % ) . In addition , the duration of antibiotic therapy was significantly shorter in the latter group . Fibers and LAB were well tolerated . Conclusion : Early enteral nutrition supplemented with a mixture of LAB and fibers reduces bacterial infection rates and antibiotic therapy following PPPD BACKGROUND Animal studies suggest that prebiotics and probiotics exert protective effects against tumor development in the colon , but human data supporting this suggestion are weak . OBJECTIVE The objective was to verify whether the prebiotic concept ( selective interaction with colonic flora of nondigested carbohydrates ) as induced by a synbiotic preparation-oligofructose-enriched inulin ( SYN1 ) + Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG ( LGG ) and Bifidobacterium lactis Bb12 (BB12)-is able to reduce the risk of colon cancer in humans . DESIGN The 12-wk r and omized , double-blind , placebo-controlled trial of a synbiotic food composed of the prebiotic SYN1 and probiotics LGG and BB12 was conducted in 37 colon cancer patients and 43 polypectomized patients . Fecal and blood sample s were obtained before , during , and after the intervention , and colorectal biopsy sample s were obtained before and after the intervention . The effect of synbiotic consumption on a battery of intermediate bio-markers for colon cancer was examined . RESULTS Synbiotic intervention result ed in significant changes in fecal flora : Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus increased and Clostridium perfringens decreased . The intervention significantly reduced colorectal proliferation and the capacity of fecal water to induce necrosis in colonic cells and improve epithelial barrier function in polypectomized patients . Genotoxicity assays of colonic biopsy sample s indicated a decreased exposure to genotoxins in polypectomized patients at the end of the intervention period . Synbiotic consumption prevented an increased secretion of interleukin 2 by peripheral blood mononuclear cells in the polypectomized patients and increased the production of interferon gamma in the cancer patients . CONCLUSIONS Several colorectal cancer biomarkers can be altered favorably by synbiotic intervention OBJECTIVE . The goal was to test the hypothesis that oral administration of Lactobacillus reuteri in a prospect i ve r and omized study would improve symptoms of infantile colic .  METHODS . Ninety breastfed colicky infants were assigned r and omly to receive either the probiotic L reuteri ( 108 live bacteria per day ) or simethicone ( 60 mg/day ) each day for 28 days . The mothers avoided cow 's milk in their diet . Parents monitored daily crying times and adverse effects by using a question naire . RESULTS . Eighty-three infants completed the trial : 41 in the probiotic group and 42 in the simethicone group . The infants were similar regarding gestational age , birth weight , gender , and crying time at baseline . Daily median crying times in the probiotic and simethicone groups were 159 minutes/day and 177 minutes/day , respectively , on the seventh day and 51 minutes/day and 145 minutes/day on the 28th day . On day 28 , 39 patients ( 95 % ) were responders in the probiotic group and 3 patients ( 7 % ) were responders in the simethicone group . No adverse effects were reported . CONCLUSIONS . In our cohort , L reuteri improved colicky symptoms in breastfed infants within 1 week of treatment , compared with simethicone , which suggests that probiotics may have a role in the treatment of infantile colic Probiotics have potential to improve host immunity ; however , there is less evidence showing their efficacy against infections and nutritional status in the elderly . We conducted a double-blinded feeding trial in the elderly to eluci date the effect of fermented milk containing Lactobacillus johnsonii La1 ( LC1 ) on infections and nutritional status . Twenty-four completely enterally fed elderly in- patients aged over 70 years were r and omly assigned into two groups . All subjects were administered 3768 kJ ( 900 kcal)/d of total enteral nutrition ( EN ) through tube feeding for 12 weeks . Subjects in the LC1 group were administered 373 kJ ( 89 kcal)/d of LC1 fermented milk after feeding of 3395 kJ ( 811 kcal)/d of EN for 12 weeks . In the control group , 373 kJ/d of the same EN was replaced from the fermented milk . In the LC1 group , the percentage of days with infections during the run-in observation period was 15.4 ( SD 17.3 ) % , which significantly decreased to 5.7 ( SD 8.1 ) % during the intervention period ( P = 0.018 ) , and the reduction was larger than that of the control group ( P = 0.047 ) . Blood Hb increased ( P < 0.05 ) , and there was a tendency towards an increase in serum albumin and a decrease in TNF-alpha ( a pro-inflammatory cytokine ) in the LC1 group . There was a trend towards an increase in blood phagocytic activity ( a natural immunity marker ) in the subjects whose initial level was low in the LC1 group . There were no changes in those parameters in the control group . Administration of fermented milk containing the probiotic L. johnsonii La1 may contribute to suppressing infections by improving nutritional and immunological status in the elderly Perinatal administration of the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain GG ( ATCC 53103 ) , reduces incidence of atopic eczema in at-risk children during the first 2 years of life ( infancy ) . We have therefore assessed persistence of the potential to prevent atopic eczema at 4 years . Atopic disease was diagnosed on the basis of a question naire and a clinical examination . 14 of 53 children receiving lactobacillus had developed atopic eczema , compared with 25 of 54 receiving placebo  ( relative risk 0.57 , 95 % CI 0.33 - 0.97 ) . Skin prick test reactivity was the same in both groups : ten of 50 children previously given lactobacillus compared with nine of 50 given placebo tested positive . Our results suggest that the preventive effect of lactobacillus GG on atopic eczema extends beyond infancy BACKGROUND / AIMS Experimental and clinical studies demonstrated that probiotics containing lactobacilli significantly improve the outcome of acute pancreatitis . In a prospect i ve , r and omized , double-blinded study the role of " Synbiotic 2000 " , a new synbiotic composition with high colony forming unit ( CFU ) was evaluated in the treatment of severe acute pancreatitis . METHODOLOGY Patients with severe acute pancreatitis were r and omized into two groups . Nasojejunal feeding was commenced within 24 hours after admission in both groups and continued for at least seven days . The first group of patients received four different lactobacilli preparations with 1010 CFU , respectively , and prebiotics containing four bioactive fibers ( inulin , beta-glucan , resistant starch and pectin ) in addition . Patients in the second ( control ) group received only prebiotics . RESULTS 62 patients with severe acute pancreatitis completed the study . Altogether 8 patients died . Lower incidence of multiorgan failure ( MOF ) , septic complications and mortality were detected in the first group compared to the control , but the differences were not significant statistically . The total incidence of systemic inflammatory response syndrome ( SIRS ) and MOF were significantly different between the two groups ( 8 vs. 14 ; p < 0.05 ) . Furthermore , the number patients recovering with complications were significantly less in the first group receiving modern synbiotic therapy compared to the control ( p < 0.05 ) . Finally , lower rate of late ( over 48 hours ) organ failure was detected in the first versus the control group ( 3.0 % vs. 17.2 % ) . CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that early nasojejunal feeding with synbiotics may prevent organ dysfunctions in the late phase of severe acute pancreatitis . In addition , the data also indicate that the infection of pancreatic necrosis 
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In addition , probiotics may be useful for preventing respiratory infections , dental caries , necrotizing enterocolitis , and certain aspects of inflammatory bowel disease .
Data also suggest that probiotics may promote good health in day care and work setting s , and may enhance growth in healthy as well as ill and malnourished children .
Specific strains are effective in specific disease states .