# The Antiviral Potential of Probiotics--A Review on Scientific Outcomes
## 4 Clinical Studies on the Antiviral Potential of Probiotics
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Subjects** & **Study Type** & **Probiotic(s)** & **Dose \& Duration** & **Findings** & **Ref.** \\ \hline Women (Probiotic group, & & & & & \\ \(n=24\); Age \(=31.4\pm 8.4\) years & & & & & \\ old) (Control group, \(n=27\); & Controlled pilot & _Lactobacillus casei_ & & \(\uparrow\) Clearance of cytological abnormalities & [51] \\ Age \(=32.1\pm 8.3\) years old) & & study & Shirota & & \(\uparrow\) HPV clearance rate & \\ (with HPV + low-grade & & & & \\ squamous intraepithelial lesion) & & & & & \\ \hline Women with HPV infection & & & & \\ (Probiotic group, \(n=62\); & & & & \\ Control group, \(n=59\)) & & & & & \\ (Age \(\sim\)30 to 65 years old) & & & & & \\ RC-14 & & negative HPV testing & unsatisfactory smear. & \\ \hline Elderly people (Probiotic group, & & & & \\ group, \(n=39\); Control group, \(n=38\)) (Average & & & & \\ age \(=84\) years old) & & & & \\ \hline Healthy subjects (Probiotic group, \(n=137\) (90 females, & Randomized, & & \\ group, \(n=45\); Age \(+46.5\) years & & & & \\ old) (Control group, \(n=135\) & placebo-controlled & & & \\ (90 females, 45 males); & & & & \\ Age \(=43.7\) years old) & & & & \\ \hline Healthy adults (Probiotic group, \(n=25\) (10 females, & Randomized, & & \\ group, \(n=15\) (10 females, & Randomized, & & \\ (95 males); Group, \(n=25\) (16 females, & Randomized, & & \\ (Age \(\sim\)33 \(\pm\) 7.7 years old) & & & \\ (Age \(\sim\)33 \(\pm\) 7.7 years old) & & & \\ \hline Healthy adults (Probiotic group, \(n=58\) (308 females, & Randomized, & & \\
240 males); Age \(=31.6\) years & Randomized, & & \\ old) (Control group, \(n=551\) & placebo-controlled & & \\ (38 females, 213 males); & & & \\ Age \(=31.3\) years old) & & & \\ \hline Healthy adults (\(n=62\) (39 females, & & \\ females, 23 males); & & & \\ age \(=26\)\(\pm\) 4 years old) & Randomized, & & \\ older (\(n=63\) (45 females, & & \\ 18 males); Age \(=69\pm 5\) years & & & \\ old) subjects & & & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: The results of clinical studies on the antiviral potential of probiotics. The children (2-6 years old) were supplemented with milk containing _L. rhamnus_ GG 10\({}^{8}\) CFU per day (400 mL) for 28 weeks. The respiratory viral diversity was assessed. The results indicated that probiotic supplementation did not affect the viral load and diversity  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt}} \hline \hline
**Subjects** & **Study Type** & **Probiotic(s)** & **Dose \& Duration** & **Findings** & **Ref. ** \\ \hline Pediatric patients with viral gastroenteritis (Probiotic group, \(n=13\) (6 females, 7 males); Age range = 3 to 59 months old) (Control group, \(n=16\) females, 11 males); Age range = 5 to 73 months old) & Randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled & _B. longum, Bifidobacterium lactis, L. L. rhamnosus, Paliococcus restoarchs and Latchoillus acidophilus_ & \(10^{9}\) CFU (10\({}^{8}\) CFU/each strain) per \(\downarrow\) Duration of diarrhea & [62] \\ Children with acute rotavirus gastroenteritis (Low dose profile group, \(n=9\); High dose profile group, \(n=8\); Control group, \(n=6\) (Average age = 3.3 months old); 10 females, 13 males) & _L. rhamnus_ 35 & 2 or 6 \(\times\) 10\({}^{8}\) CFU per day; 3 days & \(\downarrow\) Fecal rotavirus shedding & [63] \\ Children (Standard therapy + robotic group, \(n=40\); Control (standard therapy + placebo group, \(n=40\)) (Age = 3 to 36 months old) & Randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled & \(L.\) rhamnus SG, paliacotoligosascahridead  
in children, whereas the days of respiratory symptoms were reduced compared to the control. The results suggested that _L. rhamn_GG was not effective in reducing the viral load in children [54]. The supplementation of _Lactobacillus plantarum_ HEAL 9 and _Lactobacillus paracasei_ 8700:2 (\(10^{9}\) CFU per day for 12 weeks) reduced the incidence of the common cold and its symptoms significantly in healthy subjects compared to the placebo (control) group.