Impact of Probiotics on the Prevention and Treatment of Gastrointestinal Diseases in the Pediatric Population García Santos, José Antonio Nieto Ruiz, Ana María García Ricobaraza, María Cerdó, Tomás Campoy Folgoso, Cristina Functional gastrointestinal disorders Gastrointestinal disorders Gut microbiota Probiotics Infants Children Despite the high prevalence of gastrointestinal disorders (GIDs) in infants and children, especially those categorized as functional GIDs (FGIDs), insufficient knowledge about their pathophysiology has limited both symptomatic diagnosis and the development of optimal therapies. Recent advances in the field of probiotics have made their potential use as an interesting therapeutic and preventive strategy against these disorders possible, but further efforts are still needed. In fact, there is great controversy surrounding this topic, generated by the high variety of potential probiotics strains with plausible therapeutic utility, the lack of consensus in their use as well as the few comparative studies available on probiotics that record their efficacy. Taking into account these limitations, and in the absence of clear guidelines about the dose and timeframe for successful probiotic therapy, our review aimed to evaluate current studies on potential use of probiotics for the prevention and treatment of the most common FGIDs and GIDs in the pediatric population. Furthermore, matters referring to know major action pathways and key safety recommendations for probiotic administration proposed by major pediatric health agencies shall also be discussed. 2023-07-17T10:37:36Z 2023-07-17T10:37:36Z 2023-05-29 journal article García-Santos, J.A.; Nieto-Ruiz, A.; García-Ricobaraza, M.; Cerdó, T.; Campoy, C. Impact of Probiotics on the Prevention and Treatment of Gastrointestinal Diseases in the Pediatric Population. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24, 9427. [https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24119427] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/83817 10.3390/ ijms24119427 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ open access Atribución 4.0 Internacional MDPI