Probiotics in Human Health and Disease
A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Gut Microbiota".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 October 2026 | Viewed by 44
Special Issue Editor
Interests: Bacillus subtilis; Bacillus cereus; microbiology; food microbiology and safety
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
There is a group of “friendly" microbes that can ameliorate human health when administered in adequate amounts: the probiotics. In the last decade, the attention towards probiotics has expanded significantly, with modern research highlighting their potential and effectiveness in modulating the immune system, improving metabolic function, and influencing the gut-brain axis both in healthy and in disease conditions. Therefore, the interest in probiotics has progressively shifted from dietary supplements towards considering them as potential therapeutic agents.
Yet the field faces a critical bottleneck: while numerous studies confirm that probiotics work in various conditions, the molecular mechanisms underlying their host interactions remain poorly understood. Strain-specific effects, variable colonization efficiency, and the lack of predictive biomarkers for clinical response continue to challenge the translation of probiotics into reliable therapeutic strategies.
This Special Issue aims to move beyond descriptive observations to address the unresolved scientific questions in probiotic research. Research articles and review articles are welcome. We invite contributions focusing on:
- Molecular mechanisms of probiotic-host interactions (immune modulation, metabolic signaling, gut-brain axis);
- Strain-specificity and individualization – why do some strains work in some hosts but not others?
- Safety and regulatory challenges, particularly in immunocompromised populations;
- Next-generation approaches, including engineered probiotics, postbiotics, and omics-driven discovery.
I look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Francesco Celandroni
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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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
- homeostasis
- probiotics
- in vitro model
- gut-brain axis
- probiotic treatment
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