A new study in the March issue of Postgraduate Medicine suggests that a strain of probiotic bacteria, Bacillus coagulans, also known as GanedenBC30 ( GBI-30, PTA-6086), increases the body's immune response to viruses that cause common viral respiratory tract infections like colds and flu.

The study showed a significant increase in T-cell production of TNF-alpha, a key immune marker, versus control on exposure to adenovirus and influenza A in healthy adults who took a daily capsule of GanedenBC30 for 30 days.