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Review
. 2021 Jun 2;10(6):1261.
doi: 10.3390/foods10061261.

Impact of the Gut Microbiota Balance on the Health-Disease Relationship: The Importance of Consuming Probiotics and Prebiotics

Laura-Berenice Olvera-Rosales  1 , Alma-Elizabeth Cruz-Guerrero  2 , Esther Ramírez-Moreno  3 , Aurora Quintero-Lira  4 , Elizabeth Contreras-López  1 , Judith Jaimez-Ordaz  1 , Araceli Castañeda-Ovando  1 , Javier Añorve-Morga  1 , Zuli-Guadalupe Calderón-Ramos  3 , José Arias-Rico  5 , Luis-Guillermo González-Olivares  1
Affiliations
Review

Impact of the Gut Microbiota Balance on the Health-Disease Relationship: The Importance of Consuming Probiotics and Prebiotics

Laura-Berenice Olvera-Rosales et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Gut microbiota is a group of microorganisms that are deposited throughout the entire gastrointestinal tract. Currently, thanks to genomic tools, studies of gut microbiota have pointed towards the understanding of the metabolism of important bacteria that are not cultivable and their relationship with human homeostasis. Alterations in the composition of gut microbiota could explain, at least in part, some epidemics, such as diabetes and obesity. Likewise, dysbiosis has been associated with gastrointestinal disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and even cancer. That is why several studies have recently been focused on the direct relationship that these types of conditions have with the specific composition of gut microbiota, as in the case of the microbiota-intestine-brain axis. In the same way, the control of microbiota is related to the diet. Therefore, this review highlights the importance of gut microbiota, from its composition to its relationship with the human health-disease condition, as well as emphasizes the effect of probiotic and prebiotic consumption on the balance of its composition.

Keywords: microbiota; microbiota–intestine–brain axis; prebiotic; probiotic.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Dominant gut microbiota phyla in different life stages.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Microbiota–gut–brain axis, bidirectional communication network that includes the central nervous, autonomic nervous, enteric nervous, immune, and endocrine systems, and gut microbiota.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mechanisms in the pathogenesis of Helicobacter pylori-associated gastric carcinogenesis.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Action mechanisms of probiotics during gut colonization. (A) Human immunomodulation exerted by probiotics; (B) antagonism derived from production of antimicrobial substances; (C) inhibition of toxin action by probiotic metabolism; (D) control of pathogen adhesion on epithelium by a competition mechanism.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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