The Influence and Prebiotics and Probiotics on the Microbiome—2nd Edition

A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Prebiotics and Probiotics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 October 2024 | Viewed by 547

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Nutrition Science, College of Health and Human Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47906, USA
Interests: prebiotics; biotechnology; human nutrition; milk; dairy; probiotics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Nutrition Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
Interests: adipose tissue; insulin resistance; lipid metabolism; metabolic diseases; nutrition; abdominal obesity; glucose metabolism; fat; carbohydrate metabolism; body composition
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue seeks new scientific evidence that addresses health concerns and opportunities related to the modifications of the microbiome. We seek rigorously designed and controlled studies that evaluate the influence of prebiotics and/or probiotics on the microbiome. Our goal is to provide a stronger base of scientific information for the consumer, and professionals who advise them on diet. Both professionals and consumers are undoubtedly confused about the value and risks of prebiotics and probiotics present in the diet due to the limited scientific bases behind many of the claims.

We continue to observe significant interest in the ability of prebiotics and probiotics to alter the intestinal microbiome, with the goal of improved health. Research in this area has incredible potential to affect metabolic disease, inflammatory responses, nutrient availability, and a wide range of additional health challenges. We seek well-designed trials that evaluate the roles of prebiotics, probiotics, and their combinations in affecting a variety of health risks.

Prof. Dr. Dennis Savaiano
Dr. Tzu-Wen Cross
Guest Editors

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 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

  • prebiotics
  • probiotics
  • microbiome
  • human health
  • gastrointestinal
  • functional foods

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

24 pages, 7251 KiB  
Article
A Prebiotic Diet Containing Galactooligosaccharides and Polydextrose Produces Dynamic and Reproducible Changes in the Gut Microbial Ecosystem in Male Rats
by Robert S. Thompson, Samuel J. Bowers, Fernando Vargas, Shelby Hopkins, Tel Kelley, Antonio Gonzalez, Christopher A. Lowry, Pieter C. Dorrestein, Martha Hotz Vitaterna, Fred W. Turek, Rob Knight, Kenneth P. Wright, Jr. and Monika Fleshner
Nutrients 2024, 16(11), 1790; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16111790 - 6 Jun 2024
Viewed by 431
Abstract
Despite substantial evidence supporting the efficacy of prebiotics for promoting host health and stress resilience, few experiments present evidence documenting the dynamic changes in microbial ecology and fecal microbially modified metabolites over time. Furthermore, the literature reports a lack of reproducible effects of [...] Read more.
Despite substantial evidence supporting the efficacy of prebiotics for promoting host health and stress resilience, few experiments present evidence documenting the dynamic changes in microbial ecology and fecal microbially modified metabolites over time. Furthermore, the literature reports a lack of reproducible effects of prebiotics on specific bacteria and bacterial-modified metabolites. The current experiments examined whether consumption of diets enriched in prebiotics (galactooligosaccharides (GOS) and polydextrose (PDX)), compared to a control diet, would consistently impact the gut microbiome and microbially modified bile acids over time and between two research sites. Male Sprague Dawley rats were fed control or prebiotic diets for several weeks, and their gut microbiomes and metabolomes were examined using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and untargeted LC–MS/MS analysis. Dietary prebiotics altered the beta diversity, relative abundance of bacterial genera, and microbially modified bile acids over time. PICRUSt2 analyses identified four inferred functional metabolic pathways modified by the prebiotic diet. Correlational network analyses between inferred metabolic pathways and microbially modified bile acids revealed deoxycholic acid as a potential network hub. All these reported effects were consistent between the two research sites, supporting the conclusion that dietary prebiotics robustly changed the gut microbial ecosystem. Consistent with our previous work demonstrating that GOS/PDX reduces the negative impacts of stressor exposure, we propose that ingesting a diet enriched in prebiotics facilitates the development of a health-promoting gut microbial ecosystem. Full article
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Back to TopTop