New research backs up a relatively new scientific theory that probiotics, usually taken for digestive and gut health, can help reduce and control psoriasis.

The new study, published in the August edition of the medical journal Gut Microbes, is the first direct study to show that a single probiotic can have an anti-inflammatory effect on the systematic immune system.

The probiotic used in the new study was called Bifidobacterium Infantis, and is an ingredient used widely in probiotic oral formulations for gut and intestinal health.

The double blind placebo study, carried out at the Alimentary Health and the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre at University College Cork, was on 26 people with psoriasis over a 6-8 week period, with 35 healthy volunteers taking a placebo as a control comparison.

[quote]After the trial period ALL psoriasis volunteers taking the Bifidobacterium Infantis probiotic supplement showed a marked reduction in non-gastrointestinal inflammation and improved symptoms.[/quote]

This was the first trial to prove that this specific probiotic can have a marked effect on conditions that cause inflammation within the systematic immune system, of which psoriasis is a common culprit along with Ulcerative Colitis and IBS, of humans from inside the gut.

This follows a study in 2009 that found that out of 13 different individual strains or preparations reviewed, B. infantis 35624 was the only one that signficantly improved IBS symptoms and a published study in 2012 that followed a single psoriasis case study treated successfully with oral probiotics.