Strengthening Mucosal Immunity and the Intestinal Microbiome with Probiotics and Prebiotics

Dear Colleagues,

The commensal microbial cohort functions to develop and establish the host’s mucosal and cell-mediated immune systems in order to promote immunological and metabolic tolerance. Probiotics and prebiotics have been advanced to have immunomodulating properties by positively influencing the intestinal microbial cohort while simultaneously diminishing the influence and activity of pathogenic intestinal bacteria such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Clostridia perfringens. Specifically, probiotics and prebiotics are reported to have positive immuno-equilibrium restorative effects. An increasingly supported posit is that bacteria such as those from the probiotic genera Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli can participate in immune regulation, and do so by inducing regulatory T cells. Reports of beneficial immune-modulatory effects by probiotic bacteria are elicited across several molecules, which include microbial cell walls, peptidoglycan, and exopolysaccharides, through interactions with specific host cell receptors. Whereas relative to prebiotics, these are compounds portrayed to encourage the intestinal microbiome’s production of short-chain fatty acids such as butyrate, which have a central role in intestinal immunogenicity. Moreover, bacteriophages may display an additional effective local protective control mechanism for the intestinal barrier against commensal pathogenic bacteria.

Prof. Luis Vitetta
Guest Editor

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