Weissella as an emerging probiotic candidate for IBD: current evidence, challenges, and future perspectives"

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory affliction that causes gut dysbiosis, impaired mucosal integrity and disrupted immune regulation/responses. Conventional therapies, which aim to suppress inflammation or immune flare-ups, are associated with adverse effects and have limited long-term management efficacy. Therefore, the focus has shifted to the use of microbe-mediated therapeutics, such as multi-strain probiotic blends, for alleviating inflammation and lengthening the relapse period. Within this context, Weissella is an emerging and underexplored genus of Lactic acid bacteria with unique metabolic and immunomodulatory properties.This review consolidates current insights on Weissella SP., particularly W. confusa and W. cibaria, focusing on their probiotic attributes, safety profiles, molecular mechanisms, and performance in pre-clinical models of colitis. Evidence shows that this genus can help decrease pro-inflammatory cytokines, enhancing mucosal integrity via strengthening tight-junction proteins, and supporting goblet cell recovery. Despite encouraging pre-clinical findings, comprehensive safety studies and human clinical data are limited. Hence, this review outlines critical research gaps and future directions, positioning Weissella as an underexplored yet promising component of next-generation probiotic blends for IBD therapeutics.