Overview
Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis — commonly abbreviated B. animalis and still widely called Bifidobacterium lactis in the clinical and commercial literature — is among the most commercially important probiotic species in the genus Bifidobacterium. Multiple genetically distinct strains, including Bi-07, BB-12, HN019, and Bl-04, have been independently studied for applications ranging from lactose digestion and gastrointestinal symptom relief to innate immune function. Despite sharing highly similar genomes, these strains show meaningful differences in their clinical evidence profiles, reinforcing the principle that probiotic benefits must be evaluated strain-by-strain rather than extrapolated from species-level data.
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