Prebiotics and Probiotics

Despite some recently voiced skepticism on the value of prebiotics and probiotics in human medicine, this field remains very dynamic and keeps expanding as the role of gut microbiota is quickly reaching center stage in a variety of health-related issues.

This Section of Nutrients aims to provide the reader with innovative findings from bench research as well as from controlled clinical trials as well as up-to-date, fair, balanced reviews, rigorously free from commercial bias and providing the newest information most relevant to healthcare providers. We aim at an audience that includes physician scientists, practicing clinicians, dietitians, and nurses, so they can be presented with up-to-date, fair and strictly evidence-based answer to some of the many questions currently open for the potential use of prebiotics, probiotics, and the new kid in town: postbiotics.

The interaction of pre- and probiotics, both old and new, genetically engineered with gut microbiota, promises to unfold an exciting range of clinical implications, and this section aims to be at the forefront of this frontier.

The challenge of the recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has even offered an unexpected opportunity for probiotics to show their anti-inflammatory potential, a welcome addition to the limited therapeutic weaponry.

We are thus inviting all potential authors working on gut microbiota—from basic science, as well as translational and clinical investigators and recognized authorities in this area—to continue to populate this growing Section by providing their data as well as rigorous analyses and syntheses of the currently available evidence to help to maintain a robust database of current, reliable, and valuable information.

Topics:

• Gut microbiota: more than the old, dull “microflora”
• Prebiotic and probiotics: the traditional, the newcomers, the future ones
• Pre-, pro-, and postbiotics as “influencers” of the gut microbiota
• Did prebiotics fail to achieve their potential?
• Probiotics not simply for gut health, but beyond:
• Gut–brain axis implications in neurology and psychiatry
• Chronic inflammation
• Autoimmune disorders
• Arthritis
• Obesity
• Skin disorders
• Food allergies
• Are we ready for the new concept of postbiotics?