Microbial Population Changes and Their Relationship with Human Health and Disease

Álvarez-Mercado, Ana Isabel; Navarro-Oliveros, Miguel; Robles-Sánchez, Cándido; Plaza-Díaz, Julio; Sáez-Lara, María José; Muñoz-Quezada, Sergio; Fontana, Luis; Abadía-Molina, Francisco

doi:10.3390/microorganisms7030068

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Microbial Population Changes and Their Relationship with Human Health and Disease

Ana Isabel Álvarez-Mercado

^1,2,*

Miguel Navarro-Oliveros

Cándido Robles-Sánchez

^1,2,

^1,2,3,*

⁴

^5,6,

^1,2,3,†

and

Francisco Abadía-Molina

^2,7,*,†

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, School of Pharmacy, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain

Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology “José Mataix,” Center of Biomedical Research, University of Granada, Avda. del Conocimiento s/n. 18016 Armilla, Granada, Spain

Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria IBS.GRANADA, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Granada, 18014 Granada, Spain

⁴

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I, School of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain

⁵

Departamento de Farmacia, Facultad de Química y de Farmacia, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 6094411, Chile

⁶

National Agency for Medicines (ANAMED), Public Health Institute, Santiago 7780050, Chile

⁷

Department of Cell Biology, School of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Microorganisms 2019, 7(3), 68; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7030068

Received: 30 January 2019 / Revised: 26 February 2019 / Accepted: 27 February 2019 / Published: 3 March 2019

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gastrointestinal Microbiota Impacts Human Health and Disease)

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Abstract

Specific microbial profiles and changes in intestinal microbiota have been widely demonstrated to be associated with the pathogenesis of a number of extra-intestinal (obesity and metabolic syndrome) and intestinal (inflammatory bowel disease) diseases as well as other metabolic disorders, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes. Thus, maintaining a healthy gut ecosystem could aid in avoiding the early onset and development of these diseases. Furthermore, it is mandatory to evaluate the alterations in the microbiota associated with pathophysiological conditions and how to counteract them to restore intestinal homeostasis. This review highlights and critically discusses recent literature focused on identifying changes in and developing gut microbiota-targeted interventions (probiotics, prebiotics, diet, and fecal microbiota transplantation, among others) for the above-mentioned pathologies. We also discuss future directions and promising approaches to counteract unhealthy alterations in the gut microbiota. Altogether, we conclude that research in this field is currently in its infancy, which may be due to the large number of factors that can elicit such alterations, the variety of related pathologies, and the heterogeneity of the population involved. Further research on the effects of probiotics, prebiotics, or fecal transplantations on the composition of the human gut microbiome is necessary. View Full-Text

Keywords: gut microbiota; microbial population changes; randomized clinical trial; health status; obesity; non-communicable diseases; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; inflammatory bowel disease

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MDPI and ACS Style

Álvarez-Mercado, A.I.; Navarro-Oliveros, M.; Robles-Sánchez, C.; Plaza-Díaz, J.; Sáez-Lara, M.J.; Muñoz-Quezada, S.; Fontana, L.; Abadía-Molina, F. Microbial Population Changes and Their Relationship with Human Health and Disease. Microorganisms 2019, 7, 68. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7030068

AMA Style

Álvarez-Mercado AI, Navarro-Oliveros M, Robles-Sánchez C, Plaza-Díaz J, Sáez-Lara MJ, Muñoz-Quezada S, Fontana L, Abadía-Molina F. Microbial Population Changes and Their Relationship with Human Health and Disease. Microorganisms. 2019; 7(3):68. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7030068

Chicago/Turabian Style

Álvarez-Mercado, Ana I., Miguel Navarro-Oliveros, Cándido Robles-Sánchez, Julio Plaza-Díaz, María J. Sáez-Lara, Sergio Muñoz-Quezada, Luis Fontana, and Francisco Abadía-Molina. 2019. "Microbial Population Changes and Their Relationship with Human Health and Disease" Microorganisms 7, no. 3: 68. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7030068

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