Diarrhea is a significant worldwide health problem. The bacterial flora of the gastrointestinal tract plays an essential role in maintaining the integrity of the enterocyte, modulating metabolic and immunologic processes, and protecting against colonization by invasive pathogens. Disruptions of this finely tuned and stable gut flora has profound effects on the protective barrier. Antibiotics used to treat infectious diarrhea promote the emergence of resistant organisms, and multiple-antibiotic resistance has become a major public health issue. Preservation of protective species or recolonization with nonpathogenic lactobacilli, particularly Lactobacilli GG, has shown promising results in treating several forms of diarrhea, including rotavirus diarrhea, bacterial diarrhea, traveler's diarrhea, and Clostridium difficile relapsing diarrhea.
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