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. 2019 Aug 16:7:e7502.
doi: 10.7717/peerj.7502. eCollection 2019.

Factors affecting the composition of the gut microbiota, and its modulation

Nihal Hasan  1   2 , Hongyi Yang  1
Affiliations

Factors affecting the composition of the gut microbiota, and its modulation

Nihal Hasan et al. PeerJ. .

Abstract

Gut microbiota have important functions in the body, and imbalances in the composition and diversity of those microbiota can cause several diseases. The host fosters favorable microbiota by releasing specific factors, such as microRNAs, and nonspecific factors, such as antimicrobial peptides, mucus and immunoglobulin A that encourage the growth of specific types of bacteria and inhibit the growth of others. Diet, antibiotics, and age can change gut microbiota, and many studies have shown the relationship between disorders of the microbiota and several diseases and reported some ways to modulate that balance. In this review, we highlight how the host shapes its gut microbiota via specific and nonspecific factors, how environmental and nutritional factors affect it, and how to modulate it using prebiotics, probiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation.

Keywords: AMPs; Antibiotics; Diet; FMT; Gut microbiota; Prebiotics; Probiotics; miRNA.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Factors affecting gut microbiota and ways to modulate it.
(A) Factors affecting gut microbiota. (B) Ways to modulate gut microbiota. AMPs, antimicrobial peptides; IgA, immunoglobulin A; miRNA, microRNA; FMT, fecal microbiota transplantation.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Timeline: FMT development studies.
Yellow arrow showed time-base, and FMT development studies were described in text box.
Figure 3
Figure 3. The pathways of FMT.
Several pathways of FMT are shown in the schematic diagram.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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