Interaction between Dietary Components and Gut Microbiota: Their Effect on Human and Animal Health

Dear Colleagues,

The Gut Microbiota (GM) is a complex and dynamic ecosystem comprised of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa that colonize the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and interact with each other and with the host. The GM plays a crucial role in maintaining the homeostasis of the human body, influencing various physiological functions through a symbiotic relationship with the host. Any disruption from the normal composition of the GM, known as “microbial dysbiosis”, is characterized by an imbalance in the microbial ecology's composition and/or function. Recently, much attention has been given to the dynamic relationship between GM and the health and performance of animals. Both environmental factors and host-related factors wield influence over homeostasis, encompassing the perinatal disruption of colonization, genetics, diet, disease, and stress. Notably, among these factors, diet plays a central role in shaping the composition and dynamics of the GM. Dietary components such as proteins, lipids, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients enter the colon and interact with the GM. This interaction plays a crucial role in shaping the GM, exerting a profound impact on health by altering the microbiota and its metabolites. Thus, it is critical to understand how the GM utilizes various dietary components and how they affect GM.

The Special Issue entitled “Interaction Between Dietary Components and Gut Microbiota: Their Effect on Human and Animal Health” aims to present the recent research on any aspect of the impact of dietary components on GM and their interaction with human and animal health and disease. Relevant topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The effects of dietary components on the GM;
• The effects of a whole-food diet on the GM;
• The nutritional manipulation of human and animal health;
• The influence of dietary patterns on GM in health and disease;
• The valorization of agri-food wastes and by-products as animal feed and their effects on GM;
• The effects of biotic products in GM;
• Omics approaches for understanding the effects of dietary components on GM.

Dr. Georgia Saxami
Dr. Dimitrios Arapoglou
Dr. Christos Eliopoulos
Guest Editors

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• gut microbiota
• dietary components
• disease prevention and development
• probiotic and prebiotic
• omics approaches
• animals’ gut health