How to Manipulate the Microbiota: Prebiotics

Abstract

During the last century, human nutrition has evolved from the definition of our nutritional needs and the identification of ways to meet them, to the identification of food components that can optimise our physiological and psychological functions. This development, which aims to ensure the welfare, health and reduced susceptibility to disease during life, gave birth to the concept of "functional foods". In this context, there is an increasing interest in the physiological effects induced by the dense and diverse microbiota which inhabits the human colon and whose development depends on the fermentation of undigested food residues. Thus, much research aims at identifying ways to guide these impacts in order to benefit the health of the host. It is in this context that the concept of "prebiotics" was developed in the 1990s. Since then, prebiotics have stimulated extensive work in order to clarify their definition, their nature and their physiological properties in accordance with the evolution of knowledge on the intestinal microbiota. However many questions remain open about their specificities, their mechanism(s) of action and therefore the relevance of their current categorisation.

Expert consensus document: The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) consensus statement on the definition and scope of prebiotics

“…This need was amplified by views that the pre biotic concept required clarification on specificity, mech anisms of effect, health attributes and relevance, with some authors being critical of concepts already put forward and its approaches [24][25][26] . Thus, the current ISAPP consensus panel now proposes the following definition of a pre biotic: a substrate that is selectively utilized by host micro organisms conferring a health benefit…”

The role of the microbiome in human health and disease: an introduction for clinicians

“…135 Given the beneficial effects of microbial fermentation products such as butyrate, many strategies are designed to increase the production of this metabolic product and other short chain fatty acids. Because such treatments presume that the appropriate microbes are present, a variation is to administer a "synbiotic" containing both the relevant probiotic organism and prebiotic carbohydrate.…”

Nutritional aspects and vitamin D supplementation in ankylosing spondylitis

“…They consist the "food" to grow more probiotic strains in order to enhance the health of the host. The beneficial abilities of probiotics and prebiotics in connection with the modulation of intestinal microbiota, the immunomodulation and the strengthening of the epithelial barrier [50][51][52] . Study that was contacted on specific pathogen-free conditions (SPF) HLA-B27 transgenic rats, showed that a combination of chicory-derived long-chain inulin and oligofructose (Synergy -1) reduced the development of intestinal inflammation 53 .…”