Dr. Józef Brudziński – the true ‘Father of probiotics’

Abstract

Until now it has been Professor Elie Metchnikoff, a Russian researcher and scientist, who has been considered the discoverer of probiotics. In the early 20th century he associated the longevity and good health of Caucasian peasants with their consumption of a type of yoghurt containing strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus which were supposed to destroy the harmful microbiota of the intestines. However, at least a dozen years prior to Metchnikoff, a Polish doctor and scientist Dr. Józef Brudziński planned, conducted and described a study in which he applied a Bacillus lactis aërogenes suspension in treatment of infants with acute infectious diarrhoea. Here, we briefly characterise this study. Undoubtedly, apart from his fame as the neurologist who described meningeal symptoms, he deserves to be regarded as the true ‘Father of probiotics’.