Effects of probiotics on gut microbiota: mechanisms of intestinal immunomodulation and neuromodulation

TLDR

Perturbations of the gut microbiota are linked to disease risk, while microbial metabolites derived from dietary nutrients influence host regulation, and probiotics can restore microbial composition to reduce inflammation and disease. This review examines how diet and microbial conversion in the gut shape the structure and function of intestinal microbial communities. Probiotic action is proposed to alter gut microbiome composition and function, thereby modulating immunity and neurobiology.

Abstract

Recent explorations of the human gut microbiota suggest that perturbations of microbial communities may increase predisposition to different disease phenotypes. Dietary nutrients may be converted into metabolites by intestinal microbes that serve as biologically active molecules affecting regulatory functions in the host. Probiotics may restore the composition of the gut microbiome and introduce beneficial functions to gut microbial communities, resulting in amelioration or prevention of gut inflammation and other intestinal or systemic disease phenotypes. This review describes how diet and intestinal luminal conversion by gut microbes play a role in shaping the structure and function of intestinal microbial communities. Proposed mechanisms of probiosis include alterations of composition and function of the human gut microbiome, and corresponding effects on immunity and neurobiology.