P. Turchet*, M. Laurenzano**, S. Auboiron**, J. M. Antoine**

*Istituto Studi e Ricerche Nutrizione e Tecnologie (ISERNT) Alimentari "Comunità Alpe Adria", Via Maestra 56, 33084 Cordenons, Italy. **Danone Vitapole Research Center, Palaiseau, France. Correspondence: Jean Michel Antoine, Danone Vitapole, Route Départementale 128, 91767 Palaiseau Cedex, France. Tel: +331 69 35 7000. E-mail: jantoine@danone.com

Probiotics are being increasingly studied for their ability to enhance host resistance to, and recovery from, infection. The probiotic strain Lactobacillus casei DN-114 001 has previously been shown to reduce the incidence and duration of episodes of diarrhoea in children. Our controlled pilot study aimed to evaluate the effect of supplementation for 3 weeks with milk fermented with yoghurt cultures and L. casei DN-114 001 on the incidence and severity of winter infections (gastrointestinal and respiratory) in elderly people. We found no difference in the incidence of winter infections between groups. However, duration of all pathologies was significantly lower in the treatment group (7.0±3.2 days, n=180) than in the control group (8.7±3.7 days; n=180) (p=0.024), as was maximal temperature (38.3±0.5ºC treatment group vs. 38.5±0.6ºC control; p=0.01). The potential for a 20% reduction in the duration of winter infections that we have found warrants further investigation on a larger scale.

Keywords: Probiotics, elderly, immune function, winter infections, duration of illness, nutrition, aging.