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The Human Microbiome: How Our Health is Impacted by Microorganisms
Published in Michael Hehenberger, Zhi Xia, Huanming Yang, Our Animal Connection, 2020
Michael Hehenberger, Zhi Xia, Huanming Yang
The bacteria in the intestinal tract of healthy individuals are combined at a certain proportion, and each bacterium is mutually restricted and interdependent, maintaining a certain amount and proportion of ecological balance. Once the internal and external environments change, the ecological balance is destroyed. This happens due to frailty, critical illness, immunosuppressive therapy and (radio)-chemotherapy, and applies particularly to patients with long-term extensive use of antibiotics.74 Intestinal beneficial bacteria are inhibited, pathogenic bacteria grow, causing dysbacteriosis and often showing symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhea. Consequently, the human large gut microbiota has evolved into a vital “organ” that is inextricably linked to the human body through long-term co-evolution with the host. The gut microbiota “organ” performs a variety of functions, including substance metabolism, biological barriers, immune regulation, and host defenses. Gut microbes not only help the body absorb nutrients from food, but also synthesize amino acids, organic acids, vitamins, antibiotics, etc. They can metabolize the produced toxins to reduce the toxicity to the human body. Different eating habits and lifestyles have a great influence on the type of human intestinal microflora. For example, a high-fat diet can lead to reduction or even disappearance of beneficial bifidobacteria. There is a mutually beneficial relationship between the intestinal microbes and the human body. Our gut microbiota plays an important role in maintaining human health.75
Gut Microbiome and Heavy Metals
Published in Debasis Bagchi, Manashi Bagchi, Metal Toxicology Handbook, 2020
Ashfaque Hossain, Muhammad Manjurul Karim, Tania Akter Jhuma, Godfred A. Menezes
Intestinal immune system plays an integral part in maintaining the eubiotic state, and microbiome-derived products also stimulate the host immune system (example SCFA stimulates production of host antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin-3). In addition, microbiome product bacteriocin acts to selectively eliminate certain types of bacteria (Iebba et al., 2016). The gut microbiota plays a key role by symbiotic and mutualistic interactions and contributes to immune development including energy production, development of immune cells, food digestion, and homeostasis of epithelial cells, thereby maintaining a healthy GIT (Lu et al., 2015). However, when an imbalance or disruption arises between commensal and pathogenic bacteria in the intestine, owing to the ecological disturbance, dysbiosis ensues (Spor et al., 2011), resulting in innate immunity dysfunction (Belizário et al., 2018). Many diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, allergies, cancer, and inflammatory bowel disease have been related to specific bacterial dysbiosis (Claus et al., 2016; Li et al., 2017; Richardson et al., 2018).
The Human Microbiome: How Our Health is Impacted by Microorganisms
Published in Michael Hehenberger, Zhi Xia, Our Animal Connection, 2019
The bacteria in the intestinal tract of healthy individuals are combined at a certain proportion, and each bacterium is mutually restricted and interdependent, maintaining a certain amount and proportion of ecological balance. Once the internal and external environments change, the ecological balance is destroyed. This happens due to frailty, critical illness, immunosuppressive therapy and (radio)-chemotherapy, and applies particularly to patients with long-term extensive use of antibiotics.74 Intestinal beneficial bacteria are inhibited, pathogenic bacteria grow, causing dysbacteriosis and often showing symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhea. Consequently, the human large gut microbiota has evolved into a vital “organ” that is inextricably linked to the human body through long-term co-evolution with the host. The gut microbiota “organ” performs a variety of functions, including substance metabolism, biological barriers, immune regulation, and host defenses. Gut microbes not only help the body absorb nutrients from food, but also synthesize amino acids, organic acids, vitamins, antibiotics, etc. They can metabolize the produced toxins to reduce the toxicity to the human body. Different eating habits and lifestyles have a great influence on the type of human intestinal microflora. For example, a high-fat diet can lead to reduction or even disappearance of beneficial bifidobacteria. There is a mutually beneficial relationship between the intestinal microbes and the human body. Our gut microbiota plays an important role in maintaining human health.75
Effects of 24-week prebiotic intervention on self-reported upper respiratory symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, and markers of immunity in elite rugby union players.
Published in European Journal of Sport Science, 2023
C. Parker, K.A. Hunter, M.A. Johnson, G.R. Sharpe, G.R. Gibson, G.E. Walton, C. Poveda, B. Cousins, N.C. Williams
The profile, genetic material, and functional activity of the gut microbial community (the gut microbiome) have a substantial influence on systemic immunity (Roberfroid et al., 2010). Manipulation of the gut microbiome is possible through dietary intervention, most commonly through pro- or prebiotic dietary supplements. This may provide a potential strategy to help reduce URS and GIS in team sport athletes. Probiotic supplementation has been shown to reduce URS incidence in active runners (Cox et al., 2010; Gleeson et al., 2011; Strasser et al., 2016). This improvement was attributed to better maintenance of salivary immunoglobulin A (sIgA) (Gleeson et al., 2011), an antibody which provides the initial barrier of defence against invading pathogens. Furthermore, a recent 2022 update to a Cochrane meta-analysis concluded that probiotics reduced the number and duration of URS episodes in adults and children (Zhao et al., 2022). Similarly in elite rugby union, the use of a multi-strain probiotic showed a trend for ∼2 day reduction in the duration of URS (Haywood et al., 2014). Currently, the variety of probiotic strains used across different studies creates uncertainty as to which may be most beneficial for athlete health.
The influence of exercise training volume alterations on the gut microbiome in highly-trained middle-distance runners
Published in European Journal of Sport Science, 2022
Jonathan Craven, Amanda J. Cox, Phillip Bellinger, Ben Desbrow, Christopher Irwin, Jena Buchan, Danielle McCartney, Surendran Sabapathy
The human gastrointestinal tract is a densely populated ecosystem of diverse microorganisms, often termed the “gut microbiota” or “gut microbiome”. These microorganisms influence host physiology (Sommer & Backhed, 2013) and health (Sekirov, Russell, Antunes, & Finlay, 2010) throughout the lifespan. A healthy microbiome can be characterised by factors such as its potential stability (i.e. ability to withstand disturbances), diversity of organisms, or the metabolic products it produces (Lloyd-Price, Abu-Ali, & Huttenhower, 2016). The diversity of microorganisms is postulated to hinder the overgrowth and dominance of a particular species which can have deleterious effects on an individual’s health. For example, Clostridium difficile overgrowth following broad spectrum antibiotic use can result in pseudomembranous colitis, with potentially fatal consequences (Farooq, Urrunaga, Tang, & von Rosenvinge, 2015).
Altered gut microbiota richness in individuals with a history of lateral ankle sprain
Published in Research in Sports Medicine, 2022
Masafumi Terada, Masataka Uchida, Tadashi Suga, Tadao Isaka
Based on our findings, gut microbiota is a potential target for future clinical interventions for a LAS. Gut microbiota can be modifiable with therapeutic interventions, including diet, probiotic supplementation, lifestyle change, exercises, and faecal microbiota transplantation (Arora et al., 2021; D’Amato et al., 2020; Du et al., 2021; Gubert et al., 2020; Lew et al., 2019; Li et al., 2021; Tillisch et al., 2013). Recently, intervention strategies for a LAS have focused on addressing changes in CNS plasticity and neurocognitive function to improve patient outcomes (Bruce et al., 2020; Mohammadi et al., 2021). Human and animal studies have reported that diet-based intervention and faecal microbiota transplantation have been effective in improving CNS function and restoring the balance of gut-brain axis (D’Amato et al., 2020; Du et al., 2021; Lew et al., 2019; Tillisch et al., 2013). Modulation of gut microbiota diversity through clinical interventions may become a future novel approach for the treatment of a LAS to restore CNS function and control inflammatory response to injury. It remains unknown what clinical interventions for patients with a LAS would be most effective in modulating gut microbiota and if modulation of gut microbiota can improve patient outcomes. Clinical intervention trials are required to evaluate microbiota-based interventions as an effective as an adjunct with current managements for a LAS.