The Role of the Gut Microbiome in Human Health

Abstract

The human microbiota comprises of collective genomes of microbiota, namely protozoa, archaea, eukaryotes, viruses and bacteria that live mainly on and within various sites of the human body, with the highest concentrations being found in gastrointestinal tract. Microbiome plays an important role in host protection against invading pathogens, metabolism and immunity as well as maintaining intestinal homeostasis. Gut microbial imbalance (dysbiosis) may lead to dysfunction of host, thereby contributing to pathogenesis and/or progression of some pathologies. All of them, some of the most noticeable diseases are Clostridium difficile infection, inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease and obesity. New therapies derived from microbiome studied such as fecal microbiota transplantation, probiotic and prebiotics to target associated diseases have been shown how disease symptoms can be reformed, thus opening new scientific approaches to treatment in the future. Key words: gut microbiome, dysbiosis, Clostridium difficile infection, inflammatory bowel, celiac disease, obesity.