IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i18p11534-d913879.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of Probiotics Supplementation on Risk and Severity of Infections in Athletes: A Systematic Review

Author

Listed:
  • Mirella Di Dio

    (Department of Movement Sciences and Wellbeing, University of Naples “Parthenope”, 80133 Naples, Italy)

  • Patrizia Calella

    (Department of Movement Sciences and Wellbeing, University of Naples “Parthenope”, 80133 Naples, Italy)

  • Giuseppe Cerullo

    (Department of Movement Sciences and Wellbeing, University of Naples “Parthenope”, 80133 Naples, Italy)

  • Concetta Paola Pelullo

    (Department of Movement Sciences and Wellbeing, University of Naples “Parthenope”, 80133 Naples, Italy)

  • Valeria Di Onofrio

    (Department of Sciences and Technologies, University of Naples “Parthenope”, 80143 Naples, Italy)

  • Francesca Gallè

    (Department of Movement Sciences and Wellbeing, University of Naples “Parthenope”, 80133 Naples, Italy)

  • Giorgio Liguori

    (Department of Movement Sciences and Wellbeing, University of Naples “Parthenope”, 80133 Naples, Italy)

Abstract

The aim of this review was to appraise the literature on the effects of probiotics supplementation on gastrointestinal (GI) and upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) risk and prognosis in athletes. The search was conducted using the following electronic databases: MEDLINE (PubMed); Web of Science; Scopus; and SPORTDiscus (EBSCO). According to the PRISMA guidelines, randomized controlled studies performed on healthy athletes with a note dose of probiotics supplementation were considered. From the 2304 articles found, after eliminating reviews and studies on animals and unhealthy subjects and after screening of titles and abstracts, 403 studies were considered eligible. From these, in accordance with the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 16 studies were selected, ten of which concerned endurance athletes. The majority of the studies reported beneficial effects of probiotics in reducing the risk of developing the examined infections or the severity of related symptoms. However, due to the differences in formulations used and populations analyzed in the available studies, further research is needed in this field to achieve stronger and more specific evidence.

Suggested Citation

  • Mirella Di Dio & Patrizia Calella & Giuseppe Cerullo & Concetta Paola Pelullo & Valeria Di Onofrio & Francesca Gallè & Giorgio Liguori, 2022. "Effects of Probiotics Supplementation on Risk and Severity of Infections in Athletes: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-13, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:18:p:11534-:d:913879
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/18/11534/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/18/11534/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mirella Di Dio & Patrizia Calella & Concetta Paola Pelullo & Fabrizio Liguori & Valeria Di Onofrio & Francesca Gallè & Giorgio Liguori, 2023. "Effects of Probiotic Supplementation on Sports Performance and Performance-Related Features in Athletes: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-14, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:18:p:11534-:d:913879. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.