Probiotics and Gut Microbiome Dynamics in Health and Disease

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Gut Microbiota".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2026 | Viewed by 1064

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Department of Agricultural Development, Democritus University of Thrace, 68200 Orestiada, Greece
2. Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece
Interests: food microbiology; applied & molecular microbiology; functional foods; high-added-value products
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor Assistant
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece
Interests: bioinformatics; microbiome research; biomarker discovery; translational medicine

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Guest Editor Assistant
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece
Interests: cancer; aldehyde dehydrogenases; cancer stem cells; DNA damage; oxidative stress; chemoresistance; natural products; antioxidants
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue “Probiotics and Gut Microbiome Dynamics in Health and Disease” aims to explore and highlight how gut microbial communities influence host physiology, development, and overall well-being across biological systems. Gut microbiota play key roles in metabolic regulation, immunity, behavior, and resilience to environmental stressors. Microbial transmission patterns, early-life colonization, dietary habits, and lifestyle factors strongly shape microbial diversity and functional capacity. Growing research and public interest in probiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics, and functional foods, including innovative plant-based and fermented formulations, underscore their potential to beneficially modulate gut ecosystems in both health and disease contexts. Mechanistic insights increasingly reveal how microbial metabolites, community interactions, and strain-specific functions affect host outcomes. Computational advances in microbiome research enable the discovery of biomarkers and novel probiotic candidates. This Special Issue welcomes contributions that expand the molecular, functional, nutritional, translational, and computational understanding of gut microbiota and their role in maintaining or restoring health across diverse biological systems.

This Special Issue entitled "Probiotics and Gut Microbiome Dynamics in Health and Disease" aims to present recent research on any aspect of the gut microbiome. Some of its focal points include, but are not limited to, the following:

  1. Microbial community dynamics, host–microbe interactions, and microbiome-derived metabolites;
  2. Probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics, and functional foods targeting disease prevention and health promotion;
  3. Bioinformatics, multi-omics analysis, genome sequencing, and computational tools for studying microbiome function and probiotic potential;
  4. Microbiome-based biomarkers and personalized interventions in precision medicine;
  5. Effects of diet, genes, lifestyle, and environmental factors on microbiota composition and function.

Reviews, original research, and communications will be welcome.

Dr. Anastasios Nikolaou 
Guest Editor

Dr. Margaritis Tsifintaris
Dr. Ilias Tsochantaridis 
Guest Editor Assistants

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • gut microbiota
  • probiotics
  • functional foods
  • fermented foods
  • maternal–infant microbiome
  • diet–microbiome interactions
  • microbial colonization
  • microbial metabolites
  • microbiome biomarker
  • dysbiosis
  • precision nutrition
  • host–microbe interactions

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 3664 KB  
Article
Multi-Strain Probiotic Intervention Modestly Modulates Microbial Composition and Inflammatory Profile in Individuals with Long COVID
by Ana Bačić, Tijana Gmizić, Marija Branković and Mirjana Rajilić-Stojanović
Microorganisms 2026, 14(4), 734; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms14040734 - 25 Mar 2026
Viewed by 734
Abstract
Probiotics are widely used to support host health by modulating microbial communities and immune–metabolic homeostasis. Such interventions may be particularly relevant in long COVID syndrome, a condition characterized by persistent symptoms, low-grade inflammation, and microbiota alterations following SARS-CoV-2 infection. This study investigated the [...] Read more.
Probiotics are widely used to support host health by modulating microbial communities and immune–metabolic homeostasis. Such interventions may be particularly relevant in long COVID syndrome, a condition characterized by persistent symptoms, low-grade inflammation, and microbiota alterations following SARS-CoV-2 infection. This study investigated the effects of a multi-strain probiotic on gut microbiota composition and predicted functional potential and biochemical parameters in individuals with long COVID and convalescent participants. Healthy individuals were included as reference controls. In an interventional study, 34 participants received a 12-week probiotic formulation containing Saccharomyces boulardii, Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG, and two Lactiplantibacillus plantarum strains, while 40 served as non-supplemented controls. Fecal microbiota, assessed using 16S rRNA sequencing, and biochemical markers were measured at baseline and post-intervention. Probiotic supplementation induced selective compositional changes without significantly altering overall microbial diversity. Effects were more pronounced in long COVID participants and included enrichment of bacteria associated with metabolic and immune regulation, including Adlercreutzia, Coprococcus, and Eubacterium. Functional prediction analysis identified a probiotic-responsive signature in long-COVID-affected individuals, characterized by enrichment of pathways related to energy metabolism and redox balance. These microbial changes were accompanied by a consistent trend toward reduced inflammatory and hepatic markers. Overall, probiotic intervention demonstrated microbiota-status-dependent potential in long COVID recovery. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Probiotics and Gut Microbiome Dynamics in Health and Disease)
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